Department of Sociology and Social Work
Social Work Program
| Welcome
|
Nora LaFond Padykula, MSW, ABD
Assistant Professor
Background
I joined the faculty of Westfield State College on a full-time basis in 2006, but have been teaching as an Adjunct Professor since 2004. I also teach Dual Diagnosis and Crisis Intervention in the MSW program at the Smith College School for Social Work. In addition, I work with students as a research advisor during their final MSW thesis project.
My academic background began at Holyoke Community College with an AA in Law Enforcement, I then transferred to Westfield State College and received a BA with a double major of Psychology and Criminal Justice. Social Work was not offered as a major back then! I completed my MSW at Springfield College and am now a candidate for a Ph.D. at the Smith College School for Social Work. For the past thirteen years I have worked in various clinical settings: supported housing programs for the chronically mentally ill, jails, prisons, addiction treatment programs, and in an outpatient clinic. My clinical focus has been on helping clients manage mood disorders, psychological trauma, addictions, and personality disorders. I hope to restart a small practice after my Ph.D. is complete.
My interest in research is varied. Currently, the focus of my dissertation is in examining the impact that the social work curriculum has on the development of certain characteristics of emerging social workers. Specifically, I am interested in knowing if the social work curriculum assists students in gaining the capacity for critical reflection and in the ability to “read other people” non-verbally. I am also involved in a project that is gathering data on the use of sweat lodges as a component of addiction treatment for incarcerated women. A list of my recent publications and presentations follow. If you have an interest in any of these publications or presentations please feel free to contact me.
How To Contact
via mail
Nora LaFond Padykula
Social Work Program
Westfield State College
577 Western Ave., PO Box 1630
Westfield, MA 01086-1630
via phone
413-572-8239
via fax
413-562-8174
via email
npadykula@wsc.ma.edu
Chase, C., Padykula, N.L., Leggett, S. (under review). “A Woman’s Context for Healing”: Exploring the dialectic of power and powerlessness in a Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center. The National Women’s Studies Association.
Bettmann, J., Thompson, K., Padykula, N., & Berzoff, J. (in press). Innovations in Doctoral Education: Distance Education Methodology Applied. Journal of Teaching in Social Work.
Padykula, N.L. (2005) Addiction as an Attachment Disorder [Review of the book Addiction as an Attachment Disorder]. Clinical Social Work Journal: APA Review of Books, 33(4):489-491.
Padykula, N.L. (2004) Liberation by Oppression: A Comparative Study of Slavery and Psychiatry [Review of the book Liberation by Oppression: A Comparative Study of Slavery and Psychiatry]. Psychiatric Services: APA Review of Books, 55:461.
Presentations:
Padykula, N. (2007, March). Understanding how DBT can enhance EMDR treatment. EMDRIA Conference, Northampton, MA.
Padykula, N., Bettmann, J.E., Thompson, K., & Berzoff, J. (2007, March). Innovations in doctoral education: Distance education methodology applied. Southwestern Social Science Association Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
Updated 10/11/07