Doctoral Candidate Erin King graduated this summer with her doctoral degree in social work from the FSU College of Social Work. She successfully defended her dissertation titled “An exploration of the effects of primary and secondary trauma on child welfare workers’ mental health and commitment to the field” on June 25, 2019. In the fall, Dr. King will join the faculty of the Department of Social Work of the University of West Florida (UWF) teaching courses, conducting research, mentoring students, and providing service to UWF and the Pensacola community.

During her first semester at UWF, Dr. King will be teaching two clinical masters-level courses--Evaluation of Social Work Practice and Clinical Practice with Families. She looks forward to working with social work students and values the unique contributions each student, and future practitioner brings to the field.

“Social work students are as diverse as the clients we serve. Our unique perspectives and experiences, combined with social work education, means that each of us has something to bring to the table,” she expressed.

Dr. King spent several years of her social work career as a practitioner, serving as a clinical social worker providing therapy to clients, including adolescents with severe mental health diagnoses and women with substance use disorders. Initially, she was drawn to social work because of her desire to aid individuals through a person-in-environment perspective. She studied social work with a minor in psychology during her undergraduate years at UWF (2001-2004) and later received her MSW from Florida State in 2007.

While providing therapy for women in a substance abuse program, Dr. King noticed several commonalities between the women she worked with such as histories of childhood trauma, symptoms of mental illness, and substance use to cope with these symptoms. She wanted to learn more about these larger patterns and how she could address them. This desire led her to pursue her doctoral degree in social work at FSU.

Under the guidance of Dr. Dina Wilke, her faculty advisor, and dissertation chair,  Dr. King would gain first-hand experience on research projects, particularly in child welfare. She credits Dr. Wilke with providing her countless opportunities to learn and get hands-on experience. This included utilizing the data from a study Dr. Wilke is the principal investigator on, the Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families (FSPSF), supported by the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. This study examined the recruitment and retention challenges of child welfare workers in Florida. Dr. King credits these kinds of hands-on research experiences as the most invaluable part of her experience at FSU.

“Dr. Stephen Tripodi was the faculty supervisor for my first research practicum. He was so helpful and encouraging as I worked through my very first attempt on a research project,” she noted about her committee members. “Dr. Karen Randolph taught two classes in my first semester. She was the one who taught us the basics of research. She was always very passionate when she spoke about research, and I think it rubbed off. Dr. Lenore McWey, of the College of Social Sciences, was my outside committee member. She provided support and asked thoughtful questions that helped me think more deeply about my dissertation study.”

Dr. King is particularly excited to transition from the role of a student to that of a professor, scholar, and mentor. She hopes to bring an emphasis to the importance of social work research in practice with clients to the classroom and students’ field experiences.

“Sometimes it seems like there are two camps, researchers and practitioners,” she explained. “I would like to try to instill the importance of collaboration and communication between the two. There is a need for researchers to really listen to the realities of the practice world when planning studies and program evaluations, and the incorporation of research and evidence-based findings in the clinical setting.”

Dr. King will continue her research relating to the mental health and well-being of child welfare workers, as well as other areas of interest including trauma exposure, mental health, and well-being in other at-risk populations.

Contact Dr. King at the University of West Florida at eking1@uwf.edu.

Photo (left to right): Dr. Lenore McWey, Dr. Karen Randolph, Dr. Dina Wilke, Dr. Erin King, Dr. Stephen Tripodi