DSW Student
Contact Information
Email: jrwitt1@crimson.ua.edu
Areas of Interest and Expertise
- Clinical Practice
- Cultural & LGBTQIA+ Diversity
- Ethics in Field Supervision
- Psychiatric Social Work
Education
- MSW, University of Missouri- St. Louis
- MA, Philosophy, St. Louis University
- BA, Arabic, Peace Studies, and Theology, University of Notre Dame
Bio
Prior to his MSW studies, John-Paul spent two years teaching religious studies and ethics. He also spent several years volunteering in a variety of capacities in Cairo, Egypt, Punta Gorda & Belize City, Belize, as well as in Louisiana, Kansas, and Missouri. John-Paul spent many days after class helping his students navigate the personal and academic challenges they faced; that experience inspired him to obtain his MSW with a concentration in behavioral health, to ultimately serve in a full-time therapeutic role. John-Paul received a Behavioral Health Workforce Education & Training grant to spend his MSW practicum at a psychiatric hospital, serving individuals with psychiatric conditions across the lifespan and continuing that role as part of a psychiatric treatment team in a hospital after obtaining his MSW. Returning to his roots in education, he then became a school social worker for several years before ultimately transitioning to private practice with a focus on trauma therapy, the LGBTQIA+ population, and survivors of sexual violence of all genders. His passion is to help form and educate others to grow to their highest potential emotionally and intellectually. He hopes to continue to serve as an advocate for his patients and a formator of the next generation of social workers through his doctoral studies.
For his Capstone Project, John-Paul will examine the role personal financial mobile applications have in social work clinical practice.
Selected Publications
Luo, Y., Ruggiano, N., Bolt, D., Witt, J., Anderson, M., Gray, J., Jiang, Z., (2023). Community Asset Mapping in Public Health: A Review of Applications and Approaches. Social Work in Public Health, 38(3), 171-181.
Pickard, J.G., Witt, J.P., Aitch, G.T. (2018). Resilience and Faith of African American Caregivers: Concepts, Research, and Outcomes. In Resnick, B., Roberto, K., & Gwyther, L. (Eds.) Resilience in aging: Concepts, research, and outcomes (2nd Ed.). (2018). New York: Springer.
Conference Presentations
Witt, J.P. (2023, March 3). Put your money where your practice is: Trends and proposals for integrating financial social work into Doctorate of Social Work studies. National Doctor of Social Work Conference on Education and Social Work Practices, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States. https://training.ua.edu/dswconference/
Witt, J.P. (2017, April 28). Nonsuicidal self-injury: Effective interventions with African Americans. University of Missouri-St. Louis Graduate Research Fair, Saint Louis, MO, United States.