Sharon Bale-Peña

Dr. Bale-Pena is a professor in the Social Work Program in the Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Social Work. She received her Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) degree from Rutgers University. Her area of scholarship focuses on the provision of mental health services in school settings particularly among low-income and underserved communities. She is also part of a collaborative study exploring how social work faculty apply a liberatory consciousness framework in the classroom create learning opportunities that empower students to think critically and engage with social justice principles.

Outside of her academic work, Dr. Bale-Pena is a clinical social work who provides therapy to adolescents and adults who have experienced repeated and ongoing traumatic events including childhood abuse, neglect, and relational trauma, and traumatic losses which is often referred to as complex trauma. She also specializes in working pregnant and postpartum parents who are experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADS). She also has ​over 15 years experience working as a school social worker ​where she provided therapeutic services and developed ​programming to address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of the student population.