Amanda Baranski, M.S.W., D.S.W, LCSW, LMNIT

Adjunct Assistant Professor
Contact

Email: abaranski@smith.edu
Pronouns: she/her

Amanda Baranski headshot with office behind
Education

Naropa Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies, Naropa University
D.S.W., Rutgers University
M.S.W., University of Michigan
B.S., Central Michigan University
 

Biography

Amanda Marsh Baranski, LCSW is a social work educator, clinician, and leader who teaches in the BSW and M.S.W. programs at MSU Denver. Her teaching focuses on clinical practice, diagnostic assessment, grief and loss, trauma-informed care, and the therapeutic relationship. Topics that tend to raise big questions and very few simple answers.

Baranski brings real-world clinical experience into the classroom and is known for a teaching style that is relational, direct, and clear about expectations. She believes students learn best when they are challenged, supported, and trusted to think critically.

Her professional interests include grief and bereavement, ambiguous and disenfranchised loss, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and the ethical integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence into social work education. Outside the classroom, she provides clinical supervision, develops continuing education trainings, and is committed to preparing thoughtful, ethical, and resilient social workers; especially for the parts of the work that don’t come with a manual.