Ramona Alaggia, MSW, PhD

Ramona Alaggia, MSW, PhD

Associate Professor of Social Work and the Factor-Inwentash Chair in Children’s Mental Health at the University of Toronto, Dr. Ramona Alaggia focuses her teaching and research on gender, violence, trauma, resilience and mental health. She investigates children’s resilience in the context of intimate partner violence, child sexual abuse disclosure, the experiences of women surviving intimate partner violence, how immigrant and refugee families are affected, and how services can best respond.

“What does resilience look like for the growing number of children exposed to domestic violence? How can we better support these children and their families?” “What role can communities play in promoting resilience?”

These are a few of the issues that Dr. Alaggia and her team explore through the Make Resilience Matter project, examining the impact of child exposure to intimate partner violence, the effects on their mental health, and important resilience processes.

Dedicated to working with agencies to help inform and improve their interventions, Dr. Alaggia follows a strengths-based perspective within a social-ecological framework.

Dr. Alaggia’s research and practice experience led her to co-edit, with Cathy Vine, a ground-breaking book, Cruel but not Unusual: Violence in Canadian Families, now in its second edition.

Dr. Alaggia presents her research across Canada and internationally in countries such as Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Germany and the United States.

Contact: ramona@makeresiliencematter.ca