Education
- Ph.D. in Social Welfare, Florida International University, 2003
- MSW in Clinical Social Work, University of Maryland, 1987
- BA in Sociology, University of Pittsburgh, 1985
Areas of Interest
Dr. Levenson studies the impact and effectiveness of social policies and therapeutic interventions designed to reduce sexual victimization and perpetration. She researches the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences and their influence on adult outcomes, mental health, and criminality.
Biography
Dr. Jill Levenson, PhD, LCSW, Professor of Social Work at Barry University in Miami, is an internationally recognized expert in Trauma-informed Care. She is a SAMHSA-certified TIC instructor, and specializes in applying TIC in forensic, clinical, behavior health, and correctional settings. Her primary area of expertise is in the area of policies and clinical interventions designed to prevent and treat sexual victimization and perpetration.
Dr. Levenson has published over 120 articles, 25 chapters, and 6 books, and her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ), the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). In 2019 she was named by the Journal of Social Service Research as being among the top 100 social work scholars in North America, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for the Treatment & Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA).
In 2020 Dr. Levenson was honored to receive the Social Worker of the Year Award from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-FL) Miami-Dade Chapter. In 2020 she was also inducted to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, an honor society of distinguished scholars and practitioners dedicated to achieving excellence in the field through high-impact work that advances social justice and the public good. https://aaswsw.org/member/jill-levenson-phd/. In 2017 she was named Barry University’s Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year!
Dr. Levenson has conducted trainings about clinical, correctional, policy, and forensic issues all over the world. She has been invited to present in over 25 states, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, Scotland, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, and Australia. She has been a licensed clinical social worker for over 30 years, using a scientist-practitioner model to inform her teaching, research, advocacy, and clinical practice with people impacted by complex trauma. She is an advocate for social justice, evidence-based practices and policies, and trauma-informed care for every human.
“If we believe in social justice, we can’t pick and choose who it applies to.” – Dr. Jill Levenson