Rebecca J. Macy Ph.D., ACSW, LCSW Associate Professor at School of Social Work University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Rebecca J. Macy Ph.D., ACSW, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and an assistant professor at the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She joined the UNC faculty in 2002, after receiving her doctoral degree in social welfare from the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1993, Rebecca received her MSW from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana where she trained in clinical social work and focused on cognitive and narrative therapies. Following the completion of her MSW and before her doctoral studies, Rebecca worked in outpatient community mental health for four years in Indianapolis, Indiana. Rebecca’s social work practice experience led her to be interested in the impact that violent victimization has on mental health. During her doctoral studies, she was a National Institute of Mental Health-funded Prevention Research Trainee. Her dissertation focused on sexual assault prevention and used cognitive theory to investigate the phenomenon of sexual revictimization. Rebecca’s research applies social psychological and social cognitive theories toward better understanding the mental health consequences of violent victimization. Her current research activities include investigations of the physical and mental health consequences of violent victimization; processes for coping with traumatic events; best practice guidelines for community-based interventions with violence survivors; and the investigation of cognitive interventions for violence survivors and violence prevention. Rebecca is a second generation social worker and cognitive practitioner. Both of Rebecca’s parents are social workers, and her mother- who is a clinical social worker- first introduced her to the ideas of cognitive therapy.