Rosemary Sullivan

Background

I joined the Social Work Department in 2005 as an adjunct professor, and moved into a full-time position in 2007.  Prior to coming to Westfield State, I lived in Greensboro, North Carolina for many years.  While living in Greensboro, I earned a bachelors degree from Guilford College and a master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. During and after completing my MSW, I worked in various residential treatment programs specializing in providing services to adolescent girls with severe emotional and behavioral problems. Working with teenagers of such acuity led me to develop ongoing interests in providing mental health treatment for victims and perpetrators of family violence.  I worked at Family Service of the Piedmont in Greensboro, where I was a therapist and, ultimately, the clinical manager of the Family Preservation Program, a group therapist for male batterers in the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, and a group therapist in a long-term treatment facility for women battling substance abuse.  After leaving North Carolina, I continued providing therapy to children and adults who had experienced family violence and served as the clinical director in a residential program for self-harming adolescent girls in Brattleboro, Vermont.  In 2009 I completed my doctorate in Clinical Social Work from Smith College in Northampton Massachusetts.   As a professor, I focus on teaching in the HBSE sequence and social policy classes. I am currently working on a qualitative research project that seeks to explore the identity development of Transgendered people, and how that process is similar to or different from the psychosocial identity process for Gay and Lesbian people.  I am also in the process of completing two articles regarding mandated treatment of family violence offenders.  I have presented at numerous conferences, universities, and training centers about integrating trauma theory into clinical practice, utilizing forensic evaluation techniques in cases of suspected child abuse, and social worker preparation for expert witness testimony in criminal and civil trials.