Dr. Trudi Zaplac is a clinical psychologist in San Antonio, Texas. Originally from Victoria, Texas, she obtained her Bachelor's of Science degree from Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas. For five years, she worked in private psychiatric hospital settings counseling adolescents and their families. She went on to complete a joint degree program in Law and Clinical Psychology at Villanova University School of Law and Hahnemann University where she obtained special training in forensic psychology and the applications of social science research to legal problems. Dr. Zaplac completed her clinical training at the Norristown State Hospital in Norristown, Pennsylvania, an APA approved internship with specializations in forensic psychology and treatment of personality disorders.
Dr. Zaplac served as the Director of Counseling and Advocacy Services for Mantachie Rural Health Care in Mantachie, Mississippi. She helped the clinic develop an accredited Children's Advocacy Center for the coordination of multidisciplinary services including investigation, counseling, and advocacy services for victims of child sexual abuse and their families. Working closely with a multi-disciplinary team, Dr. Zaplac created and served as Program Director for the Families First program in Mantachie. Dr. Zaplac's innovative design for this program helped teach parenting and life skills to families at risk for having children removed for abuse and neglect, provided opportunity for college age mothers of very young children to develop parenting and life skills while continuing with a college education, and helped at risk elementary students in the community with an afterschool tutoring and social skill development program.
After five years with this rural clinic, Dr. Zaplac entered private practice where she continued to provide individual and family counseling services, parenting assessments, expert witness evaluations and testimony, and psychological testing services. She worked with a local children's home to provide legal services in cases involving termination of parental rights and adoptions. The local courts relied on Dr. Zaplac to serve as a guardian ad litem in numerous cases where children were in need of investigation and advocacy services due to a family conflict being presented to the court.
Dr. Zaplac has continued in private practice since 2002, working with various offices and agencies in Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. She has developed a special knowledge base and skill set when working with persons who have suffered psychological injuries, families in high conflict divorce and custody, and specialty assessments for both adults and children. She has served as an expert witness evaluator for numerous legal matters and she has provided expert witness testimony in numerous courts, both state and federal.
