SP2 celebrates 2025 Doctorate in Clinical Social Work graduates

At the 2025 Commencement ceremony for Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), eighteen students were awarded their Doctorate in Clinical Social Work (DSW). As part of the ceremony on Saturday, May 17, each doctoral graduate was formally hooded by the chair of their dissertation committee. 

The 2025 DSW graduates are listed below, along with the titles of their dissertations:

Christopher Aaron Burner

When the Couch is Not Just the Couch—Gay Men Therapists’ Experiences with the Erotic Transference/Counter Transference Matrix: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis

Devon Laine Ciampa

Testing an Advance Care Planning Tool for Emerging Adults in Cancer Care: A Patient-Centered Perspective

Norah Michelle Covarrubias

Associations Between Cultural Values and Caregiver Support as Perceived by Latine Transgender Young Adults

Samuel Eliot Dickinson

An Officer and a Therapist: How Active- Duty Social Workers Navigated the Ethical Hazards of Their Dual Agency

Linlin Fan

“I don’t belong to either side. I lost my identity”: A Thematic Analysis Study on Chinese International Students’ Interpersonal Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Susan Marie Gardner

Dysfunctional Individuation Post Emerging Adulthood

Jennifer Lee Kaluhiokalani

Roots of Resilience: Perspectives on the Role of Nature in Mental Health & How Representation and Trusted Networks Influence Engagement in South L.A.

Dylan Anthony Moore

Friendship in Transition: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Role of Peer Support on Student Service Members and Veterans

Jeanne Anne Nugent

From Classical and Patriarchal to Relational and Queer: Theories and Histories of Psychoanalysis

Kofoworola Ariat Owonikoko

Examining the Relationship Between Discrimination, Resilience and Psychological Well-Being of Sub-Saharan African HIJAI Women in the United States

Vanessa Robles

Healing in Education: The Impact of the Immigration Journey on Student Mental Health

Kaitlin Elizabeth Rowen

Psychosocial Predictors of Disordered Eating in Adolescents with Celiac Disease: Body Image Dissatisfaction, Anxiety, Depression and Family Eating Environment

Amasa Edson Smith

The Intentions of Clinical Social Workers in the Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Mary Barrett Smith

Examining the Impact of Intrafamilial Adversity on Emotion Regulation in Sexual and Gender Minority People in Southwest Alabama

Grace Shixin Su

Validation of the Chinese Version of the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS-C) among Perinatal Chinese Immigrant Women

SuMing Sullivan

Coming to Terms with Our Routes: The Impact of Family Estrangement on Asian American Identity

April Lynn Thompson

Providing Support to Women During the Parole Process: A Case Study of an Innovative Program

Alyssa M. Vu

We Did What We Could: A Qualitative Study Examining Parent-Child Relationships of Vietnamese American Emerging Adults

About SP2’s Doctorate in Clinical Social Work

The Doctorate in Clinical Social Work (DSW) program allows ambitious, MSW-prepared social workers to advance their education in just three years—without putting their careers on hold. Students become clinical experts, inspired educators, and real-world scholars through a convenient blend of online evening classes and on-campus immersion experiences.