Beth Sapiro

Biography

Dr. Beth Sapiro is an associate professor in the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy at Montclair State University. She earned her B.Sc. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Toronto and a Master’s of Social Work from New York University. After graduating with her MSW in 2006, she worked as a clinical social worker in a variety of school-based and community mental health programs in New York City for six years, providing individual, family and group therapy to adolescents and their families. She completed her PhD in Social Work at Rutgers-New Brunswick in May 2018. As a licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Sapiro currently maintains a small individual psychotherapy practice in addition to her teaching, scholarship, and service commitments.

Dr. Sapiro’s research focuses on the intersections of multiple topics related to mental health, marginalization, power and connection. The importance of human relationships and the promotion of social justice are both core values of the social work profession (NASW, 2021). While supportive relationships play a crucial role in fostering growth and well-being across the lifespan, experiences of trauma, marginalization and stigma can function as barriers to connection and service engagement. This research is part of an intersectional feminist theoretical approach that emphasizes both concepts (such as interdependence) and methods (such as qualitative inquiry) which have been traditionally undervalued in Western approaches to studying human development.

Dr. Sapiro teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, in both the MSW program and the Social Work minor. Most recently, she has taught courses focusing on generalist social work practice, human behavior in the social environment, assessment and diagnosis, and clinical practice with families.

Resume/CV

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Research

The impacts of trauma, marginalization, and healing on adolescent and adult mental health and relational development; the transition to adulthood in marginalized populations; qualitative research; clinical social work practice; anti-oppressive social work practice; building bridges between social work practice and research.