Jeanne King

Psychologist, author and leading expert in family violence and legal domestic abuse, Dr. Jeanne King helps people break the cycle of abuse before it spirals out of control. In turning her own nightmare into a mission, she has devoted her life to being the voice for all those who have been silenced by abuse and by our legal system. King is known for her authenticity, amazing courage, and her ability to personally connect and inspire reflection on issues so often ignored.

Earning her doctorate degree in psychology from Northwestern University, King served as a clinical psychologist in bio-behavioral medicine for 20 years. Her primary specialty was the treatment of pain, stress, trauma and anxiety disorders. She was founding director of the Chicago Center for the Treatment of Pain and Stress, and past president of the Illinois Biofeedback Society. She designed and developed the Biofeedback and Stress Reduction Program, which she conducted in hospitals and with hundreds of patients through Employee Assistance Programs and in her clinical practice at the Chicago Center for the Treatment of Pain and Stress.

A personal experience precipitated a change in her professional focus to family violence and the legal abuse syndrome. King attempted to extract herself and her three minor children out of a long history of well-documented family violence, which merely transformed into severe legal domestic abuse. She and her three sons embody the silent insidious way in which domestic abuse festers, from family to court and back into community. As the protective parent, she has been denied any access to her abused minor children and they have been denied contact with her. They have not seen one another for over four years.

King authored the book, All But My Soul: Abuse Beyond Control, to provide clarification for her children's future and to enlighten the public on the social epidemic of domestic violence through legal domestic abuse. Her book has been used as a college textbook in family violence and has helped thousands of people break the cycle of abuse and reclaim a life of peace, dignity and respect, and the groundbreaking work is recognized as "a missing link in family violence literature."

King has been featured in dozens of newspapers and has appeared on numerous radio and television talk shows across the country. She has also been a contributing author on several articles for journal and newspaper publications. She is the founding director of CHILD 1st (Child's Health, Interest, Life & Development 1st), a non-profit organization dedicated to insuring adult accountability for protecting our children as a means to break the cycle of abuse from family to court and back into community.

A professional speaker and consultant on family violence and legal domestic abuse for government, corporate and professional associations nationwide, King is an expert in showing people the subtle communication patterns of battering relationships and the psychosocial mechanisms that foster and maintain abuse beyond control. King bridges her experience in domestic abuse advocacy with her background in behavioral sciences, transforming chaos and confusion to a new union of understanding. Her message is an eye-opener for anyone facing abusive situations, and is a source of inspiration for all as she exemplifies overcoming adversity through embracing the power of the human spirit.