MARY LOU RANDOUR, Ph.D.
PROFESSIONAL OUTREACH COORDINATOR, ANIMAL CRUELTY AND FIGHTING CAMPAIGN
A psychologist in private practice for 20 years, Mary Lou Randour transitioned from that field to animal protection in 1996, bringing her knowledge of psychological theory, practice and research to the subject of the link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence. First working as director of Education for the Doris Day Animal Foundation, and now with The HSUS, Randour has reached thousands of professionals from law enforcement, mental health, domestic violence advocacy and child protection with her presentations at conferences throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Randour identifies and organizes policy initiatives that advance enforcement of animal cruelty laws, such as the inclusion of animal cruelty in federally maintained databases. She has testified for the prosecution during the sentencing phase at three felony animal cruelty trials. Randour also led an eight-year effort to establish the field of human-animal studies within the American Psychological Association.
An author of three books and three handbooks, as well as numerous publications in professional journals, Randour's latest handbook, "A Common Bond: Child Maltreatment and Animals in the Family: Guidelines for Practice and Policy," was developed in conjunction with the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law.
Randour, who received four years of training at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. She also was a NIMH Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Research on Women, Wellesley College, and a Clinical Fellow at Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She is Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Chair, Section-in-Formation, Human-Animal Studies, Society of Counseling Psychology, American Psychological Association.
