Research Symposium

BIO

Avery is a second-year Honors student at Florida State University majoring in Psychology and is on track to begin a double major in Social Work in Fall of 2026. She is a member of various organizations on campus such as the Honors Student Association, Students for Sexual Assault Awareness, and Philanthropy within Alpha Chi Omega. These involvements highlight her passion for advocacy, social work, and education. She has been a researcher on a project about developing a training for mental health practitioners working with parents involved within the Child Welfare System since Fall of 2025. She is grateful to have worked under Marisa Luciano and Katherine Spurling during this time, and hopes to continue expanding her research experience.

Therapists' Perceptions of Parents Involved Within The Child Welfare System: Biases and Experiences

Abstract

Therapists face a variety of clients throughout their career, whether they have training on that specific population or not. This lack of population-specific education and experience could influence their opinions, biases, and beliefs during their clinical work. In this study, we looked at mental health practitioners’ (MHP) experiences, beliefs, and training surrounding the child welfare system (CWS). This study included licensed and pre-licensed social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, and psychologists. These MHP completed a quantitative survey and optional qualitative interview addressing themes of bias, perception, and stigma. The quantitative results analyze the amount of experience, license type, experience working within the CWS and their bias toward CWS involved parents. The qualitative data bolsters these results providing first-hand experiences and offering clinical implications for mental health practitioners.

Keywords: Therapist, Child Welfare, Social Work, Mental Health, Psychology