PhD Students

Dissertation title: Trauma and the Body: A Phenomenological Study of Practitioners’ Experiences Using Somatic Approaches to Treat Trauma

Barbara Arnold is a licensed clinical social worker with more than a decade of clinical practice experience. Her research interests include trauma-informed social work education and practice, clinical social work, somatic interventions in trauma treatment, feminist theory, international social work, and qualitative research methods. Barbara served as the Associate Director of Student Counseling at the University of North Georgia until 2021, when she redirected her full-time focus to completing her Ph.D. in social work and teaching social work classes part-time at the University of Georgia. Prior to her work in university counseling, she was an outpatient therapist for children and adolescents, provided in-home work for at-risk families, worked in a residential center for adolescents, and with children and family services. Her career aspirations include continuing work in the university setting through writing, researching, and teaching. Barbara has a passion for trauma-informed education, practice, and research that integrate the body (i.e., somatic modalities) into trauma-informed approaches.

Current CV