Dr. Kelly Reed, PhD began her formal study of adoption and attachment at Texas Christian University in 2000. After graduating with her degree in psychology, Kelly spent two summers working with adopted children at Camp Hope (now The Hope Connection® camp) led by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross.
While pursuing her MEd and PhD degrees, Kelly worked for community agencies and counseling clinics in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Following completion of her PhD in Counseling and Higher Education from the University of North Texas in 2009, she returned to work with Cross and Purvis as Research Coordinator at The TCU Institute of Child Development (now called The Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development).
In addition to working on adoption research and assisting students, she spent another summer helping adopted children and their families at The Hope Connection® camp. Kelly left the institute in 2010 to pursue counseling and psychoeducational assessment services at her private practice full-time. The majority of her counseling practice consisted of helping adopted children and their families.
Kelly closed her practice to spend time with her children and to proceed studying and writing on older child adoption.
She continues to provide psychoeducational assessment services and expert witness testimony. Her future plans include a desire to start a non-profit organization focusing on foster care, adoption, and trauma research; education for parents, children, and professionals; and therapeutic interventions.
