Mary Ragan teaches a course on Spirituality in Social Work Practice at Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW).  She received her M.A., M.Ed. from Teachers College, Columbia University, her MSW from Yeshiva University, and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from North Central University.  In the past, she has been an adjunct professor at Fordham University, General Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College.  She is currently area director at Trinity Church Counseling Center, which is a part of the Psychotherapy & Spirituality Institute, where she has practiced as a clinical social worker and supervisor for many years.

In addition to her primary work as a clinician, Dr. Ragan functions as a consultant to a variety of religious and secular groups.  She has worked for many years for the Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers and Maryknoll Lay Missioners, dealing with issues related to cross-cultural adjustment and personnel problems.  That consulting work has given her the opportunity to work with missioners in Bolivia, Guatemala and Venezuela.  She is also currently a consultant to St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan (Peri-operative Services) and Christa House, a hospice on Long Island for AIDS patients and the dying poor.

Her doctoral dissertation, “A Case Study of Traumatic Grief:  Diagnostic Criteria and Clinical Interventions,” examined the specific contours of traumatic grief, its differences from general bereavement, and the clinical interventions that proved most effective.  She has done trauma work with first-responders and family member from 9/11 and volunteered in New Orleans and Lake Charles after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

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