Biography

Dr. Bernie Newman has been active in the rape crisis and battered women’s movement and LGBT rights since the early 1980s. Dr. Newman attended one of the first national Gay Rights march in Washington, D.C. in 1978 and since participated in countless collective action demonstrations for LGBT and women’s rights. She was co-chair of the Council on Social Work Education Commission for Lesbian Women and Gay Men from 1987 to 1992, working toward inclusion of content on lesbian and gay issues in the national accrediting standards for schools of social work.

Recently, she completed training for Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and has incorporated cognitive behavior approaches with exposure components into clinical work for the past decade. She has worked as a clinician for children with a history of sexual abuse, and with children, youth and adults in outpatient community settings. At present, she serve as a clinical director in a group home for youth in North Philadelphia and continues to engage in trauma-focused clinical practice with children, youth and adults.

Dr. Newman has conducted research and published in the areas of domestic and intimate partner violence and LGBT issues; specifically on rape myths among college students, childhood sexual abuse investigations, and intimate partner violence among adolescent and adult women; changing attitudes toward the LGBT community and social work and health care practice with LGBT individuals.

Education

• PhD, Social Work, University of Pittsburgh 
• MSW, Florida State University
• BS, Elementary Education, University of Pennsylvania