by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle
Karon Johnson first fell in love with social work as a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work.
Three years after graduating with her master of social work in 2014, Johnson was approached by Associate Professor Lisa de Saxe Zerden about coming back to the School of Social Work as an adjunct faculty member.
Johnson relished the opportunity as a way to offer support to students in times of challenge and trauma while also sharing in their joys and delights. So, when a full-time position opened up in 2018 in the practicum office, she didn’t hesitate to apply.
“It felt like this wonderful marriage of supporting students as they’re learning in their placements and they’re learning in the classroom,” Johnson said. “It was this perfect spot, integration, of social work practice and education. It felt right.”
Fast forward six years and Johnson is not only a clinical assistant professor but was recently named the director of well-being at the School, taking over from Robin Sansing. Johnson credits not only Sansing, but Dean Emeritus Gary Bowen and Dean Ramona Denby-Brinson for making the opportunity possible for her to support and celebrate wellness for all members of the School community.
“I hope that with all of those folks that I will carry forward the work that they have done so ably,” Johnson said.
The Wellness Committee was initially formed as an ad-hoc Wellness Taskforce to address the mental health needs of the School’s community during the coronavirus pandemic. During that time, Johnson, Sansing and other members worked to support the School with various events and resources.
Soon after, Denby-Brinson transformed the taskforce into a standing Wellness Committee to support the “People and Culture” pillar of the School’s Strategic Plan.
As a member of both the taskforce and committee, as well as a full-time faculty member for the past six years, Johnson has a wealth of experience to guide her in her new role. But she also has the perspective of working in various spaces around the state.
That work includes stints as a bilingual licensed therapist for the Family Violence & Rape Crisis Services of Chatham County (2014-2015) and a bilingual outpatient therapist for El Futuro, Inc. (2015-2017), as well as a crisis counselor for the Chapel Hill Police Department’s Crisis Unit from 2017-2018. Not to mention Johnson has owned a private therapy practice since 2018.
“What I’ve learned from each of these spaces is there’s not one solution,” Johnson said. “It’s important to be curious and attentive and collaborative and humble, listening for the needs as they emerge and honoring the voices, very much like we do in social work practice.
“That’s really what I take from all I do. The values and ethics of social work, which align with my personal values, should permeate the approach to well-being in every environment.”
Johnson views herself as a partner and contributor in ensuring that faculty, staff, students and administration members of the School experience safety and well-being not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically. She likened the community to a body, with the functioning of the whole dependent on the well-being of all the parts.
“I see this role as supporting the functioning and well-being of the whole by attending to the different parts of the body and not seeing one or the other as less or more important, but all as vital and necessary and worthy of care and attention,” she said.
The School has experienced a recent surge in partnerships promoting wellness across Carolina. In addition to collaborations with the School of Medicine and the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the School created a partnership with Carolina Housing in 2022 to install MSW students as peer well-being coaches.
Johnson hopes to see more joint efforts to celebrate wellness arise during her tenure as director of well-being.
“There’s an opportunity for us to partner with other units across campus and also deepen the roots of well-being in our School,” Johnson said. “That’s what I would like to do if that feels right for us.”
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