Updated Resume / Vita

VITA




Liz B. Johnston, LCSW, ABD-PhD





Address: 1283 Woodside Drive CA MSW License: 18489

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 NY MSW License: 034880-1

CT MSW License: 002046



Phone: (805) 471-8102 - cell

(805) 787-0106 - office



Websites: http://slotherapist.blogspot.com www.100vignettes.com







Education





Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, MA PhD - ABD - 2010



Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, MA MSW – 1984



Thesis: Street Women of Philadelphia – An empirical study of homeless and vagrant street women.



President of Student Government.



Winthrop College, Rock Hill, SC Biology - B.S. - Cum Laude-1977







Teaching and Supervisory Experience





California Polytechnic University SOC 301 Social Work and Social Welfare Fall 2011



California Polytechnic University SOC 413: Social Work Methods Spring 2011



Smith College School of Social Work SSW0361 Family and Social Policy Summer 2010



California Polytechnic University SOC 413: Social Work Methods Spring 2010





CA certified supervisor for master’s level trainees / interns. Since 2000 have clinically supervised 18 trainees / interns.





Managed MSW students during their internships at local social service agencies.





Honors / Awards





2011 Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program – Cal Poly – $10,000 Grant / loan for PhD research



2008 PhD Fellowship: The Charlotte Larsen and Jeremiah Kaplan Fellowship for Studies Related to Alzheimer’s disease. Awarded $25,000 fellowship to study couples in early stages of coping with Alzheimer’s disease.



2008 San Luis Obispo County NASW Chapter: Social Worker of the Year

“For social work ethics, values and practice”







Current Research Projects





Surviving Critical Illness: What first person accounts can tell us about developmental stages in later life. Dissertation research project, Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, MA



Voices of couples facing Alzheimer’s disease. Data analysis in progress, Research Fellowship, Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, MA.







Clinical Experience





Private Practice, San Luis Obispo, CA and Stamford, CT 8/87-Present



Therapist in private practice. Specializing in alcohol, eating, gambling, and sexual addictions. Treatment modalities include brief and long-term psychotherapy utilizing individual, couples, and family therapy.



Second level certified EMDR therapist. (EMDR is an innovative eye movement therapy for trauma.)



Facilitate Stroke Club – a monthly support group for stroke survivors and significant others.



Twin Cities Hospital, Templeton, CA 12/03-Present



Sole social worker for 110 bed hospital with 10 bed ICU. Provide counseling to patients and families, including crisis intervention and trauma therapy in Emergency Room. Member of Interdisciplinary Practice and Ethics Committees. Liaison to hospital chaplains. Responsible for coordinating staff response to patients with combined medical and psychological issues. Evaluate patients for transfer to psychiatric hospital. Assist families in making end-of-life decisions.





Designed and implemented innovative program to reduce staff stress during two year process of moving high risk medical units, ICU, ER and OB, to new hospital facility.



Teach monthly orientation to social services for new staff. Provide on-going trainings on stress reduction, self care, response to suicidal patients and working with older adults.



Rehab Care/Sierra Vista Hospital, San Luis Obispo, CA 4/98-12/03



Medical social worker. Provided counseling and case management to patients on rehabilitation unit. Diagnoses include stroke, TBI, and post-surgical complications. Ran support groups for patients and families. Provided in-service training to hospital staff on psychological topics. Supervised MSW. Responsible for streamlining department procedures and forms.



Alliance Home Health/Sierra Vista Hospital, San Luis Obispo, CA 1997-1998



Medical social worker. Performed home visits to the elderly. Conducted assessment and referred clients to needed resources.



Community Counseling Center, San Luis Obispo, CA 1997-1998



Intake coordinator for family service agency. Performed initial intake interviews, assessment, and placement for individuals, families, and children. Responsible for updating intake procedures and forms.



Kaiser Permanente, Stamford, CT 1989-1990



Primary therapist for HMO. Responsible for initial intake, assessment, and outside referrals. Conducted brief psychotherapy using play therapy and individual, couples, and family therapy. Led workshop for adult children of alcoholics.



Family and Children’s Service, Stamford, CT 1987-1989

Therapist for caseload of twenty clients, 10 to 87 years of age. Half of caseload were multi-problem indigent families. Continued specialization in alcoholism, incest, and child abuse. Led support group for adult children of alcoholics.



Family Service of Yonkers, Yonkers, NY 1985-1987

Therapist for caseload of thirty clients, 6 to 65 years of age. Specialized in alcoholism, incest, and child abuse. Supervised agency’s intake process.



Guidance Center of Camden County, Cherry Hill, NJ 1984-1985

Therapist for caseload of fifty clients, 3 to 76 years of age. One third of caseload were deinstitutionalized mentally ill adults. Established therapeutic group for children of single parent families. Led therapeutic group for schizophrenic adults.



Irving Schwartz Center for Children, Philadelphia, PA 1983-1984

Full-time field placement. Therapist for eleven learning disabled children and their parents.



Family Service of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 1982-1983

Full-time field placement. Therapist for individuals and couples.







Related Professional Activities





Association of Social Work Boards 2010 to present

Consultant



Write 30 examination questions each year for the national social work licensing exam. One of 20 consultants selected from pool of 200 applications. Received specialized training in writing multiple choice examination questions. Trained in KSA (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities) standardized knowledge base for social work exam.





Journal of Nursing Management 2011

Reviewer



Review articles related to nursing which address psychological or social work issues.







Professional Affiliations



National Association for Social Workers



EMDRIA - EMDR Practitioners Association







Volunteer Experience





Philadelphia Committee for the Homeless, Philadelphia, PA 1983-1984

Outreach Worker



HOMES Halfway House, Ithaca, NY 1981-1982

Life Skills Trainer for schizophrenic adults



Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service, Ithaca, NY 1981-1982

Telephone Crisis Counselor







Other Work Experience





Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Ithaca, NY 1978-1982

Biology – Cell Culture Research Specialist





Presentations



Critical Illness: The Impact on the Family. Association of Critical Care Nurses, SLO County Chapter, February 15, 2011



Careers in Social Work. Cal Poly Career Day, October 21, 2010



Moving a Hospital: Preventing staff stress. Poster Session, September 22-26, 2010, Grapevine, TX, Nursing Management Congress 2010.







PUBLICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL PAPERS – Social Work





Johnston, L. (2011) Surviving critical illness: A case study in ambiguity. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, 7, 1-19.



Johnston, L. (2011) Moving a hospital: Opportunities for intervention and staff retention. Journal of Nursing Management, 42(5), 42-45.



Johnston, L. (2009) 50 Questions and Answers: Study Guide for the CA MSW Exam, self published, San Luis Obispo, CA



Johnston, L. (2004) 100 Clinical Vignettes, self-published, San Luis Obispo, CA



Johnston, L. (1998) Oral Exam Casebook, self-published, San Luis Obispo, CA



Johnston, L. (1989) Co-Dependency: Feminist Perspectives, paper, Fourteenth National

Conference on Feminist Psychology, Newport, RI



Johnston, L. (1985) Homeless and Vagrant Street Women of Philadelphia, paper, Tenth

National Conference on Feminist Psychology, New York, NY







PUBLICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL PAPERS – Biology





Wood, H.A., Johnston, L.B., and Burand, J.P. (1982), Inhibition of Autographa Californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus Replication in High Density Trichopulsia Ni Cell Cultures, Virology, Vol. 119 (2), pp. 245-254.



Wood, H.A., Hughes, P.R., Johnston, L.B. and Langridge, W.H. (1981), Increased Virulence of Autographa Californica Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus by Mutagenesis, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Vol. 38 (2), pp. 236-241.



Johnston, L.B., Vernick, S.H., and Sprague, V. (1978), Light and Electron Microscope Study of a New Species of Thelohania (Microsporida) in the Shrimp Pandalus Jordani, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Vol. 32 (3), pp. 278-290.