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Jenny Wyatt, MSS, PhD, LCSW

  • Associate Professor

Affiliated Programs

Education

  • PhD, Social Work (2009)
    Bryn Mawr College (PA)
  • MSS, Clinical Social Work (1985)
    Bryn Mawr College (PA)
  • BA, Psychology (1983)
    University of California--Davis (CA)

About Me

I have been part of the social work faculty at Widener since 2001 and currently teach in the Masters and Doctoral programs. I consult with agencies on program development and evaluation, training, and trauma informed practices. I volunteer on a Critical Incident Stress Management team for emergency responders and am part of various community initiatives focusing on trauma, violence prevention, and reentry. I have practice experience in inpatient, outpatient, criminal justice, and residential settings serving adults, children, adolescents, veterans, and families with a focus on crisis, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, and trauma. I have also done extensive work in violence prevention, through a center I founded at Widener and for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of PA. I have previously held administrative positions in the Center for Social Work, including Assistant Director of Field Instruction and Assistant Director of the Center.

I am passionate about social work and committed to helping students reach their potential as social work practitioners, educators, and scholars. I work to help students integrate various areas of practice, apply theoretical material to real practice, and use their social work skills in a variety of settings. I emphasize relational work with clients and service systems and encourage ongoing learning, reflection, critical analysis, and leadership.

Research Interests

My research interests include violence prevention and reentry; clinical social work practice; treatment of serious mental illness; children and adolescents; critical incident stress management with emergency service workers; trauma; crisis intervention; collaborative work with criminal justice; social and emotional competence; interagency collaboration; and organizational management.

Media Expertise

  • Mental health
  • Serious mental illness
  • Critical incident stress
  • Children and adolescents
  • Crisis intervention

Publications

  • Cullen, J., Bloemker, G., Wyatt, J. & Walsh, M. (2017). Teaching a social and emotional learning curriculum: Transformative learning through the parallel process. International Journal of Higher Education. DOI: 10.5430/ijhe.y6n6p163.

  • Wyatt, J., & Hicks, T.A. (2015). Evaluating voices of youth: A violent prevention program. Journal of Adolescent and Family Health, 7(1), 1–31.

  • Andes, S., Wyatt, J., Kiss, A., & Mucellin, M. (2014). Employing strategic campus—Community partnerships to address nonmedical prescription drug use on college and university campuses. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 14(1), 27–41.

  • Wyatt, J., & Bloemker, G. (2013). Social and emotional learning in a freshman seminar. Higher Education Studies, 3(1), 106–114.

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

Awards

  • Phi Alpha Honor Society
  • Social Worker of the Year, NASW Brandywine Division (2016)