Nichole Wofford, Ph.D., LICSW, LMFT

Nichole Wofford is an assistant professor of social work at Westfield State University in Massachusetts, where she teaches advanced adult and family clinical social work courses, as well as the courses on diversity and social justice, social welfare policy analysis, and school social work. In 2019, Wofford co-facilitated a pedagogy and diversity seminar for faculty at the Smith College School for Social Work and in 2018, served as a Sotomayor Fellow – providing consultation to students, faculty and administrators around issues of race and racism in the classroom and within the institution. Wofford’s research has included exploration of incoming social work graduate students' knowledge and understanding of mental health diagnoses, utilizing an object relations theoretical approach to cultivate school settings as holding environments for queer and trans youth, and conducted an exploratory study that explored ways schools can promote queer and trans-identified adolescents' help-seeking behaviors in school settings. Wofford’s doctoral dissertation is entitled, "Factors Associated with LGBTQ Adolescent's Seeking Mental Health Services in School Settings." As a licensed clinician in California and Massachusetts, Wofford has provided consultation to school districts about student mental health, suicide risk assessment and prevention and she has provided consultation to community-based organizations on issues of race, equity, and inclusion. Wofford worked in outpatient adult and adolescent community mental health settings and managed a children's outpatient mental health treatment facility, oversaw district-wide mental health service delivery for K-12 students, and currently provides clinical consultation, supervision and training on mental health. Wofford specializes in working clinically with the intersectional identities of QTPOC individuals. Wofford has maintained a small private practice providing therapy, clinical supervision and organizational consultation for over 20 years and believes that through self and community preservation efforts - healing, transformation and equity are attainable goals.