Katherine E. Davis of Hamden died at Connecticut Hospice in Branford on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 from a brain tumor.

Davis was a psychotherapist in private practice in New Haven for more than two decades. A specialist in child mental health, she also treated adults of all ages and couples.

She became an early practitioner of EMDR, an evidence-based therapy for PTSD and related conditions, and later an educator and consultant to other clinicians in EMDR therapy. Her time was increasingly devoted to volunteer work as an EMDR trainer for the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program in order to expand use of this therapy in non-profit and public clinics.

In recognition of her efforts, she received the Social Worker of the Year award from the Connecticut Association of Social Workers in 2010 and the national EMDR Humanitarian Assistance program award for outstanding voluntary service in 2011. Before entering private practice, she had been clinical director of the former Hamden Mental Health Service for many years.

Educated in Georgia State University and Tulane University, she came to New Haven from Columbus, OH, in 1969 as a pediatric social worker at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She was one of a small group of child specialists who drafted Connecticut's first child abuse law.

At Hamden Mental Health Service, beside general oversight of clinical services, she developed police training programs and community mental health outreach projects, including adult courses at Hamden High School. At one time she appeared weekly at midday on WNHC-TV to discuss children's mental health issues.

She leaves her husband, Robert Gelbach; daughters Rebecca Dworkin and Amy Larkin Gelbach; son Scott Dworkin; sister Deborah Methot; brother Pryor Davis; stepson Jonah Gelbach; and grandson Henry Gelbach.

Funeral Services at Temple Emanuel, 150 Derby Ave., Orange Friday morning, Sept. 14, 2012 at 11a.m. with interment services to follow at Beth Israel Cemetery, Derby-Milford Rd., Orange. A later Memorial Gathering will be announced in the near future.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made in her honor to the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program, 2911 Dixwell Ave., Hamden, Ct. 06518.