School and Com­mu­ni­ty Well­ness Advi­sor, Butte Coun­ty Office of Education

Matt Red­dam is a licensed ther­a­pist and cur­rent School and Com­mu­ni­ty Well­ness Advi­sor for the Butte Coun­ty Office of Edu­ca­tion. The for­mer Pol­i­cy and Prac­tice Coor­di­na­tor for Trau­ma Trans­formed Bay Area, Matt is rec­og­nized as a region­al expert in trau­mat­ic stress and an advo­cate for mar­gin­al­ized and his­tor­i­cal­ly sub­ju­gat­ed pop­u­la­tions. Begin­ning his career as a ther­a­pist, Matt quick­ly found that sys­tems and com­mu­ni­ties often pathol­o­gized children’s attempts to sur­vive, lead­ing to mis­di­ag­no­sis, mar­gin­al­iza­tion, and the rob­bery of resilience. This led him to shift his work from indi­vid­ual treat­ment to the con­sul­ta­tion and train­ing of large systems.

As a sur­vivor of com­plex trau­ma, a stu­dent of racial jus­tice, and a father, Matt con­tin­ues to walk the line of learn­er, expert, and fierce advo­cate. After the Camp Fire in 2018, Matt began work­ing pri­mar­i­ly with­in Butte Coun­ty, and con­tin­ues to sup­port the health and well­ness of the com­mu­ni­ty of Par­adise. Matt believes that true sys­temic and com­mu­ni­ty change comes from dis­com­fort, rela­tion­ship, and unflinch­ing self-reflection.

Matt lives in Chico with his part­ner and two chil­dren, Liam and Caleb, his liv­ing exam­ples of resilience and hope.