Prof. Sandra Brackenridge, LCSW

Prof. Sandra Brackenridge is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and an experienced clinician who has combined academic leadership with ongoing clinical practice. As a professor of social work for 23 years, she taught, supervised, and mentored students while continuing to provide therapy so that her clinical work remained current and informed by emerging approaches.

She has supervised social workers toward their clinical licensure across three states, guiding at least 40 colleagues through that process, a role that has at times earned her the informal label of the "therapist's therapist." Her teaching and supervision work has run alongside a sustained therapy practice, allowing her to integrate a variety of therapeutic techniques and approaches into everyday clinical work.

Her scholarship, presentations, and publications have focused heavily on grief and bereavement and on mental health concerns in healthcare settings, with particular attention to veterinary professionals. She has also participated in and published on the mental health impacts of natural disasters and public health crises, including the recent pandemic and several hurricanes.

Prof. Brackenridge brings a deep interest in the well-being of healthcare professionals and their families, informed by direct experience in those environments. She understands the stressors that can lead to burnout, compassion fatigue, and strains in relationships, and she aims to respond empathically to each person’s unique situation.