Hanif E. A. Benjamin, LMSW, BSC., C.C.T., C.F.T

Hanif Earis Antony Benjamin is a Licensed Master of Social Work, licensed by the New York State Office of the Professions, and a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Centre for Crisis Management. Mr Benjamin, a Clinical and Forensic Traumatologist (F.T.) and Clinical Therapist holds a Clinical and Field Traumatology Certification from the Traumatology Institute of Canada and Child Trauma (C.C.T.) from the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Centre for Crisis Management. Mr Benjamin is listed in the International Deployment Directory of the National Center for Crisis Management as a first responder for traumatic events and an International Premier Speakers and Trainers Bureau of the National Center for Crisis Management and the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress.

Benjamin gained his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice (summa cum laude) at Monroe College and furthered his studies at Fordham University completing a Master of Social Work with three (3) sub-specialties – Clinical Master of Social Work with distinction in New York City receiving (summa cum laude), skills in trauma treatment for children and adolescents and working with Children and Families. When he completed his program at Fordham, he continued his development in trauma work with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). In 2013, he joined the National Centre for Crisis Management and the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. He also joined the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health – England. He served as the president 2021-2022 of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Social Workers (TTASW) and a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists.

He is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Centre for Human Development Limited (TCHD); TCHD LTD is the only full-service, trauma-informed, psychological, counselling, mental health, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), private social service practice based in Trinidad and Tobago and the Region. At TCHD, clients make genuine, meaningful, and mindful life choices. Mr. Benjamin is also the Executive Director at TCHD Postgraduate Training Institute, one of the most formidable training companies specialising in Clinical Training & Development and Organizational Training & Development. Through TCHD Postgraduate Training Institute, he provided training and development for over 10,000+ (ten thousand) people locally, regionally, and internationally. He wrote, designed, and developed over 100+ (one hundred) pieces of training and written, designed and developed pieces of training for public, private, and governments throughout the Caribbean.

Benjamin served (2017-2020) as the Chairman of the Board of Management of the State Agency, the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. The Authority is a specialised agency responsible for the care and protection of children, especially those at risk or who have been victims of abuse or neglect. Mr. Benjamin also served as a member of the Management Committee to oversee the operation of the Youth Development Apprenticeships Centres (YDAC) of Trinidad and Tobago with the primary responsibility to manage the operations of the YDACs and to effectively direct and co-ordinate a modernised approach for the YDAC’s.

Mr Benjamin, who is also a Youth Development Specialist, became a Certified Trainer of Trainers in New York State, having completed all levels of training in the Advancing Youth Development Revised Trainer of Facilitator program from Cornell University and recently Positive Youth Development (PYD 101) Trainer of Facilitator. He also gained training and development from The Youth Development Exchange training program in “Smart Moves That Successful Youth Workers Make” and “Creating Collaborative Relationships”. As a Youth Development Specialist, Benjamin provided strategic and training leadership to the Juvenile Court Project (now the Children Court), which is a multi-dimensional plan to strengthen the capacity of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago to deal with children matters using a rehabilitative and less retributive approach. USAID and UNDP funded this. Benjamin was also a consultant with U.S. States Courts providing training and development and technical leadership in six (6) Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) (Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Dominica).

As a Traumatologist, his skills are also used in direct Trauma Intervention Training and Development in other Caribbean Countries. He has amassed significant exposure and expertise in Trauma Treatment, Field Traumatology, and Child, Adolescent, and Youth Development. He provided Trauma response to natural and manmade disasters (Dominica in 2015, Greenvale in Trinidad in 2018, and Earthquake in Trinidad in 2018), along with Psychological First Aid. His leadership skills also came to the forefront during COVID-19, providing intervention on a national scale, developing Crisis Systems, and delivering private and public information through various mediums. Benjamin continues to provide significant trauma intervention for different individual, community, and national traumatic incidences.

Benjamin successfully trained over 6000 persons in Positive Youth Development (PYD101) throughout the Caribbean. He has also developed curricula and delivered training and development in many different countries in multiple areas. Specifically, Benjamin developed training in trauma treatment with children and adolescents with various individuals and groups throughout the region, including but not limited to police service, teachers, guidance officers, social workers, psychologists, and youth workers. Additionally, as a Mental Health Expert, he created and delivered numerous pieces of training in Mental Health and Wellness. Each activity was designed to immerse the participants in their respective areas. Mr. Benjamin, in his quest to develop a more excellent clinical skillset in the Caribbean, and through TCHD Ltd, partnered with various universities and other persons, namely, A.C.T. for Youth Center of Excellence at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, Cornell University, the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at New York University (N.Y.U.) Langone, Howard University School of Social Work (HUSSW), Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, The Institute of Forensic Social Workers, and others.

Before returning to Trinidad and Tobago in 2012, Mr. Benjamin served as a leader in Juvenile Justice, working with Graham Windham Services for Children and Families in New York City. Mr. Benjamin first served as program director for the Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention (AIDP). The AIDP program is a Community-Based Organisation (C.B.O.) based (centered) in New York City’s public school system providing at-risk youth on the verge of dropping out of middle school with the support needed to move through middle school on to the next phase (High School). Under Mr Benjamin’s astute leadership, the AIDP program became New York City’s most successful. Mr Benjamin provided leadership within the Bridges to Health (B2H) program, working with youth attached to the New York State Office of Children, and Family Services (OCFS), Division of Juvenile Justice and Opportunities for Youth (DJJOY). He treated the varying levels of trauma the youth and their families faced by providing intervention, referral, and support where needed. He offered astute leadership and clinical supervision and development to his staff, which was charged with this very arduous task of providing services to some of the most vulnerable youths of New York City.

Mr. Benjamin received many accolades for his work in New York, namely the Essa Abed Award for Distinguished Contribution in Promoting Cultural Awareness, Social Justice, and Coalition Building. He received – The Catholic Interracial Counsel of New York (CICNY) Award from Fordham University and the Alumni of Distinction from Monroe College. Mr Benjamin was invited and inducted into The Honour Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Its membership is restricted to students with integrity and high ethical standards and ranked scholastically at the top of their class. He was also featured in the MACO Peoples Magazines and the Bristol Who’s Who publication.

A proven international and regional leader, with prodigious skills in clinical services, human and educational service, and training and development, with a demonstrated ability to manage the technical aspects of various programs, Mr Benjamin has proven himself an essential trauma and clinical resource. Through The Centre for Human Development Limited, he is intensively fighting the stigma of Mental Health, child and youth development, and community development. Through TCHD LTD, he provides consultant work for organisations through the Employee Assistance Program (E.A.P.), individual, group, and family counselling, and Behaviour Change. He worked with High-Risk families and communities more susceptible to negative societal influences such as but not limited to traumatic situations of domestic violence, sexual abuse, drugs and substance abuse, and homicide.

Through his love for learning and his firm belief that “To have learned and not share, is never to have learned at all“, Mr. Benjamin is also Lecturers as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of the Southern Caribbean, School of Social Sciences – Department of Social Work and the School of Graduate Studies and Research. He has presented on various topics at many local, regional, and international conferences. He is a frequent guest speaker and contributor on local television, radio programmes, and newspapers, as he is always eager to share his experiences in Trauma, Social Work, and Mental Health. Mr. Benjamin, a motivational speaker, also examines the major social and mental health issues, utilising his social work, clinical, and trauma skills to explore practical, real-world solutions. This allows Mr. Benjamin a meaningful scope in influencing the lives of the many individuals, families, and communities he passionately serves.