Shannon Johnson

Office Hours: by appointment only (in person or virtual). 

Schedule a virtual meeting via Microsoft Bookings. Email me to request an in-person appointment or a time outside what is offered at my Bookings link.

Shannon Johnson is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Social Work Department in the UCCS College of Public Service. She earned Master of Social Work and Master of Public Policy degrees from the University of Michigan in 2008 and subsequently practiced as a substance use and mental health counselor before earning her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016. Prior to joining UCCS in 2020, Dr. Johnson served as an Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of America’s National Catholic School of Social Service.

Dr. Johnson’s scholarship centers on trauma, traumatic loss, bereavement, spirituality, and moral injury. A unifying focus of her research is meaning-making: how individuals understand, respond to, and reconstruct meaning when experiences of trauma, loss, or moral conflict disrupt previously held beliefs and assumptions. Her research has examined these processes among people affected by homicide and other forms of traumatic bereavement, parents experiencing the death of a child, individuals in substance use recovery, and professionals exposed to potentially morally injurious experiences.

Across this work, Dr. Johnson is particularly interested in the role of spirituality, culture, relationships, and social context in processes of coping, adaptation, and growth. Her scholarship seeks to inform the development of spiritually integrated, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed approaches to supporting individuals, families, professionals, and communities affected by adversity and loss.

Dr. Johnson is also an active provider of clinical therapy and a trained death doula who currently serves as a hospice volunteer. These experiences complement her scholarship and teaching by grounding her work in the lived experiences of people navigating trauma, grief, serious illness, dying, and loss.

Dr. Johnson is also deeply engaged in social work education and leadership. She has taught across the undergraduate and graduate social work curricula, including courses in social work practice, ethics, social welfare policy and services, research methods, social work theory, trauma and violence, and death and dying. Her teaching emphasizes the integration of research, theory, ethics, and practice and encourages students to critically consider how social and organizational contexts shape both adversity and responses to it.

• Trauma and traumatic loss
• Bereavement, grief, and end-of-life care
• Meaning-making following adversity
• Spirituality and spiritually integrated practice
• Moral injury
• End-of-life care
• Social work education and research

S Johnson CV