Professor
Phone: (619) 594-0790
Office: HH 111
Email: smathiesen@sbcglobal.net
Download CV (pdf)
Education
- PhD, Social Work, University of Southern California, 1997
- MSW, University of Southern California, 1991
- BA, Psychology, California State University at Long Beach, 1989
Scholarly Areas
Mental health over the life span: family response to severe and persistent mental illness, co-occurring disorders, child welfare and children’s mental health; international social work practice issues
Biography
Dr. Sally Mathiesen received her PhD and MSW from the University of Southern California, and joined the faculty at the San Diego State University after serving on the faculty at Florida State University. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Florida). Her research agenda addresses mental health over the life span. One major area concerns clinical services research regarding family response to severe and persistent mental illness, including substance abuse and dual diagnosis. She received a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) dissertation support grant to explore her research with parents of adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Another major arm of mental health that Dr. Mathiesen has pursued is the relationship between family mental health and children identified as at-risk: the child welfare population (foster and kinship care), and learning disabled children and youth. She was co-principal investigator for a 3-year grant from the Administration for Children, Youth and Families that incorporated children’s mental health into a child welfare curriculum. She was also a co-principal investigator of a grant from the Florida Department of Children and Families that obtained stakeholder views about effective foster parent recruitment and retention efforts.
Dr. Mathiesen’s interest in international social work has resulted in trainings and presentations in several Caribbean countries, and is currently focused on collaborative relationships with professionals in the border cities between the US and Mexico. She has presented her research at national and international conferences.
