Dr. Tom O’Hare, Associate Professor at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work for 21 years, has been a mental health professional for over 30 years. During that time he has worked as a clinical social worker in outpatient mental health, quality assurance and evaluation director, and social work instructor at the master and doctoral level covering human behavior, practice, research and evaluation courses. Tom’s research interests have focused on co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders and trauma, primarily in people with severe mental illness. Tom’s interdisciplinary approach to research has resulted in many peer-reviewed publications in psychiatry, psychology, social work and other cross-disciplinary journals. Tom is also author of Evidence-based practices for social workers: An interdisciplinary approach and Essential skills of social work practice, both published by Lyceum Books, Chicago, Il. . Tom and his wife, Dr. Margaret Sherrer, recently completed a teaching and research appointment in Kerala, India funded by joint Fulbright-Nehru Awards. They currently divide their time between the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and coastal Rhode Island. They have a son, Matthew O’Hare, who is a doctoral student in the Digital Arts Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.

Dr. O’Hare’s research interests have included substance abuse and mental health concerns in young people. However, during the past ten years he has focused on co-occurring substance use, trauma, and posttraumatic stress symptoms in people with severe mental illness. Given his commitment to integrating research and practice, most of these studies (both funded and unfunded) have been conducted collaboratively with other mental health professionals as part of routine care within the community mental health system. As Dr. O’Hare is equally committed to applying what is currently known about effective practice, he has also authored two well-reviewed texts: Evidence-based practices for social workers: an interdisciplinary approach, and Essential skills of social work practice: assessment, intervention, and evaluation.