Anka Roberto

Dr. Anka Roberto is an Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she serves as DNP–PMHNP Concentration Lead and faculty lead of the Well-Being & Resilience Collaborative, an interdisciplinary initiative advancing health and resilience across North Carolina and beyond. In recognition of her clinical and academic leadership, she was named a Fellow of the National Academies of Practice in 2025.

Her scholarship includes peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on trauma, resilience, and trauma-informed pedagogy, with particular emphasis on simulation-based teaching and learning. Dr. Roberto’s research and community-engaged projects explore trauma-informed interventions such as music and play based strategies, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and spirituality practices that foster resilience and optimize well-being.

Nationally recognized as a scholar and speaker on trauma, resilience, and well-being, Dr. Roberto frequently addresses audiences on the impact of trauma on the brain and body and the importance of evidence-based interventions for healing. Her work is deeply informed by her own lived experiences of medically induced trauma and a community tragedy that impacted her and her family, which continue to shape her teaching and research.

Dr. Roberto is a board-certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), a certified EMDR clinician and consultant, and a licensed RN and APRN in North Carolina and Connecticut. She also owns Holistic Healing, PLLC, where she provides individual and family-centered trauma-focused care across the lifespan. Her clinical practice enriches her academic work, bridging real-world insights with interdisciplinary education and research.

Education

DNP: Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, Fairfield University
MSN/MPH, Community Health Nursing/Education, City University of New York at Hunter College
BSN, Nursing, Fairfield University

Specialization in Teaching

Dr. Roberto has advanced the integration of Trauma-Informed Pedagogy at UNCW by designing and facilitating a summer faculty development course in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE). This fully online, asynchronous program equips faculty across disciplines with practical strategies to create learning environments that acknowledge and respond to the impact of trauma on students’ academic engagement and success.

Building on her scholarship in simulation pedagogy, Dr. Roberto also incorporates experiential, practice-based learning into her asynchronous teaching. In her leadership of PMHNP doctoral courses, she employs innovative simulation methods that prepare students to work effectively with individuals experiencing complex mental health conditions. These approaches foster not only clinical competence but also the reflective, compassionate stance essential to trauma-informed care.

Research Interests

Dr. Anka Roberto’s community-engaged scholarship advances the field of trauma and resilience through innovative, integrative approaches that bridge research, practice, and pedagogy. Drawing from her work in Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and her published scholarship on resilience frameworks, she has examined how music- and play-based trauma-informed interventions can foster emotional regulation, relational safety, and community connection.

Her research also incorporates the clinical application of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as well as spirituality practices as pathways for post-traumatic growth. Central to Dr. Roberto’s work is the recognition that healing is both an individual and collective process, informed by evidence-based modalities and community-based knowledge.

Through her ongoing projects and publications, Dr. Roberto emphasizes interventions that optimize well-being and resilience despite adversity, with a particular focus on creating accessible, strengths-based models of care. Her work underscores that resilience is not merely recovery from trauma, but a dynamic process of cultivating thriving and meaning even in the wake of challenging life experiences.

Professional Service

She also provides leadership through extensive service at the state and national levels. She is Co-Chair of the Psych Council of the North Carolina Nurses Association, a Steering Committee Member of the New Hanover County Resiliency Taskforce, and serves on the New Hanover County Health and Human Services Board. She also contributes to the missions of Music Heals Minds and Peaceful Pastures as a board member for both organizations. Nationally, she is active with the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Mental Health Special Interest Group and the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties Trauma and Resilience Special Interest Group, where she advances interdisciplinary collaboration around trauma, resilience, and mental health.

Community Engagement

Dr. Anka Roberto has a distinguished record of community engagement focused on advancing trauma-informed practices and fostering resilience. Locally, she has collaborated with K–12 schools across New Hanover County and DC Virgo, UNCW’s lab school, supporting educators in creating safe and supportive learning environments. Internationally, she has helped to guide K–12 educators in Ukraine in trauma-informed pedagogical practices, helping them navigate teaching in the context of conflict. She also works with first responders, equipping them with knowledge and strategies to address trauma and support their own well-being and that of the communities they serve.

Dr. Roberto serves as Co-Chair of the Psych Council of the North Carolina Nurses Association, a Steering Committee Member of the New Hanover County Resiliency Taskforce, and a member of the New Hanover County Health and Human Services Board, while also supporting Music Heals Minds and Peaceful Pastures as a board member. Nationally, she is a Fellow of the Nursing Academy at the National Academies of Practice, contributing to the Trauma and Resilience and Overall Health and Well-Being Subcommittees, and engages with professional groups focused on trauma and mental health. She is also the co-coordinator of the Humanitarian Assistance Program for the Trauma Recovery Network, establishing a North Carolina chapter to extend trauma recovery services statewide.

Across all these roles, Dr. Roberto integrates scholarship, clinical expertise, and leadership to advance trauma-informed practices, support healing, and promote resilience in individuals, schools, first responders, and communities.

Honors & Awards

• 2025: Fellow, National Academies of Practice – Honor/Award Accepted for Service, Professional Leadership, National Level
• 2024: Research Article of the Year – Vaughn, J. T., Ford, S. H., Braswell, A. A., Roberto, A., Link, T. L., & Killam, L. (PhD). Enhancing Psychological Safety in Advanced Practice Nursing Simulation Using an Innovative Visual Tool. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 92 (June 2024)
• 2023: Selected, International Academy of Nursing Editors Virtual Journal
• 2022: Nursing Excellence Award for Leadership and Service, North Carolina Nurses Association / UNCW
• 2021: Applied Learning Project of the Year Award, Interdisciplinary Minority Student Research Group (IMSRG), UNCW Applied Learning Office
• 2016: Graduate Student Service Award, Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, Fairfield University – for advocacy work during the Newtown Sandy Hook Tragedy
• 2015: Inductee, Alpha Sigma Nu, Jesuit Honor Society