Associates
Beth Barol PhD, USA
Beth focuses on Group dynamics, conflict resolution, management, and leadership, as well as therapeutic approaches around trauma, stigma, mental illness, and supporting people with intellectual and neurological differences—including autism. She is a faculty member in the Widener University Center for Social Work Education, and consults internationally.
My passion for social work started in the footsteps of my father, who spent most of his career working with the Settlement House Movement in Philadelphia. I saw him do his part fighting oppression, and set out in high school with a mission to do the same.
My own engagement in this mission for over thirty years has been in the service of people with developmental disabilities, especially those with "challenging behaviors." These men, women, and children, of all backgrounds, are among the most oppressed and voiceless members of our society. If we can find a way to help them be heard, we will be facilitating a climate where every voice in society is heard. We need this now more than ever.
My work has taken me from being a live-in house parent, to being a faculty director, to being the clinical director for the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Retardation Statewide Training and Technical Assistance Initiative, as well as a consultant at home and internationally. I endeavor to use these experiences in my teaching to help bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Group dynamics, conflict resolution, management, and leadership, as well as therapeutic approaches around trauma, mental illness, and neurological differences—including autism—have been the focus of my work and make up the greatest part of my research agenda.