Meet AIAFS' Expert Trainers

Leslie Barfknecht, LCSW

Leslie Barfknecht is a licensed clinical social worker in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She has a background in criminal justice and has spent her career working with offender and high risk populations. Leslie has several years of experience in an administrative and direct practice role. She is currently serving as a treatment supervisor at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston, Wisconsin, where she oversees the development and delivery of a sexual offender treatment program for civilly committed adult males. Leslie has been a trainer for clinical work throughout her career, most recently focusing on training Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) targeted at working with forensic patients that are often times labeled as resistant or difficult. She is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and a Certified Trainer with the International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE), and has developed a passion for teaching treatment interventions and strategies that promote and operationalize the common factors of psychotherapy as well as striving for excellence.