Christina Belknap is a licensed clinical social worker and doctoral student. She received an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017, where she was selected for a competitive PEARLS Fellowship, a Program in Mental Health Education Assessment, Recovery and Leadership for Social Workers. Christina served in the Peace Corps from 2013-2015 as a community development volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean where she also provided leadership as the Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC) representative for the island of St.Lucia. Christina is a practicing clinician working primarily with adults, couples, and families in areas of mental health, trauma, and substance use. She is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) and certified in faith-based spiritual counseling. Christina is currently a facilitator for the GSSWSR CONNECT Wellness program and a teaching assistant at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. She is committed to developing inclusive and equitable pedagogical practices in higher education with an emphasis on the role of belonging, safety, and trauma in learning theories. Through her professional experiences she has become interested in trauma and resilience along with neurobiological mechanisms of behavior change and learning.
Research and Scholarly Interests
- Inclusion and equity in pedagogy and higher education
- Attachment, belonging, and learning theories
- Substance use and co-occurring disorders
- Neurobiological mechanisms of learning and behavior change
- Applied community-based intervention research
- Mentorship and professional development
Dissertation Topic
Christina looks forward to collaborating with ±¬ÁÏ¹Ï faculty, her fellow doctoral students, and relevant community members in developing a proposal for her dissertation.
