Mary Christensen, Ph.D., LICSW
MSW Program Director and Associate Professor
Categorized As
Faculty,Leadership,Mental and Behavioral Health,Community Engagement,Social Justice Equity and Policy
Dr. Christensen is an Associate Professor and Director of the MSW Program at WVU. She received her PhD from Simmons College School of Social Work in 2016 and her MSW from Smith College in 2000. Prior to obtaining her PhD, Dr. Christensen worked as a licensed social worker in Massachusetts for 15 years in a range of settings, including outpatient and community mental health, child and adolescent acute residential care, adult partial hospitalization, and psychiatric emergency room services.
Dr. Christensen’s primary research focus involves collaborating with rural community health care settings to optimize the uptake and implementation of evidence-based suicide risk screening, assessment and follow-up interventions. Her research projects have involved collaboration with primary care and school-based health centers in West Virginia as well as community mental health agencies. She has developed and implemented multiple trainings for medical and mental health providers in West Virginia on the topics of suicide risk screening and assessment, brief interventions to mitigate suicide risk, and postvention.
Other projects include collaboration on the evaluation of a DBT-Skills training course for undergraduate students and work on a project funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) evaluating a digital mental health intervention for adults in Appalachia with depression. Her research has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Eberly College Interdisciplinary Research College, and the WVU Research and Scholarship Advancement Program. She has taught both on-campus and online courses in the WVU SSW, including the Generalist and Advanced Practice courses, Assessment and Diagnosis, Addiction and Social Work, and Research Methods.
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Simmons College School of Social Work
- M.S.W., Smith College
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Routine suicide risk screening and assessment in outpatient settings and primary care
- Development and evaluation of training and pedagogical initiatives related to suicide
- Evaluation of current suicide risk screening practices in primary care and other outpatient settings
TEACHING INTERESTS
- Evidence-based social work practice
- Assessment and diagnosis
- Substance use disorders
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
- Academic Administrative Team
- Curriculum Committee
- MSW Committee
- PhD Committee
- Faculty Evaluation Committee
- Faculty Search Committee-Assistant Professor
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
- Council for Social Work Education (CSWE)
- Society for Social Work and Research (SWRR)
CV
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