Julie Ann Laser
Julie Anne Laser, MSW, LCSW, PhD is a professor at the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. She teaches classes on Resilience, Experiential Therapy, Human Trafficking, Military Families, Research, and School Social Work Interventions. Her clinical expertise is in Resilience, Experiential Therapy, PTSD and trauma focused therapy, parenting issues, child and adolescent healthy development, couples therapy, adolescent substance abuse, working with human trafficking victims/survivors, working with military families, well-being and resilience throughout the life cycle, and school social work. She has worked as a clinician in rural and urban U.S., rural and urban Mexico, rural and urban Peru, Italy, and rural and urban Bolivia. She speaks Spanish, French and Italian. She has written 5 clinical books and over 30 peer reviewed journal articles.
Nonfiction
Working with Adolescents: A Clinical Guide for Practitioners, 2nd edition.
2021, New York: Guilford Press
The book provides a comprehensive view of adolescent development and explores effective ways to support teens who are having difficulties. The authors examine protective and risk factors in the many contexts of adolescents' lives, from individual attributes to family, school, neighborhood, and media influences. Assessment and intervention strategies are illustrated with diverse case examples, and emphasize a social justice orientation. Useful pedagogical features include end-of-chapter reflection questions and concise chapter summaries.
Youth and Their Families, A Guide to Treating Adolescent Substance Use Through Family Systems Therapy
New York: Oxford University Press
Though a number of books covering adolescent substance abuse are available, there are very few resources that explore the topic in the context of Family Systems Therapy (FST). Youth and Their Families offers an expanded view of the therapeutic process with a specific focus on the relationship between therapists, adolescents, families, communities, and substance use. By applying an FST lens, the clinician learns to view their client as an entire family system being affected by adolescent substance abuse. Furthermore, FST can be used at every stage of the substance abuse intervention continuum (from prevention to intervention) to provide increased functioning and strength in the family system. This book incorporates easily applicable clinical skill acquisition with the use of lively cases to give the reader requisite skills to be an effective family systems therapist.
Innovative Skills to Increase Cohesion and Communication in Couples
2019, New York: Oxford University Press
Couples who enter therapy often view the endeavor as a last-ditch effort before seeking legal services, filing for divorce, and parting ways for good. Given this mentality at the outset, couples therapy is not always successful or enjoyable-for either the client or the therapist. It is also an area of practice that is often given short shrift in training programs that predominantly focus on clinical skills in work with children and adolescents, group work, practice in specific settings, and assessment and treatment of mental disorders. Innovative Skills to Increase Cohesion and Communication in Couples discusses evidence-based clinical techniques and skills that support and nurture couples in their relationship. Each chapter begins with a succinct overview of a technique, evidence that supports it, and ideas for assessment to ensure it is appropriate for the couple. Subsequent sections of each chapter provide clear examples of approaches so that new or seasoned clinicians will have requisite knowledge for effective implementation, required materials, suitable locations for use, and personal preparation. The text serves as an essential resource for clinicians, as well as social work, counseling, and psychology students and professors.
Innovative Skills to Support Well-being and Resiliency in Youth
2017, New York: Oxford University Press
Innovative Skills to Support Well-Being and Resiliency in Youth emphasizes the step-by-step procedures readers will need to implement evidence-based, innovative techniques and skills that emphasize well-being and resilience in youth. The strategies are specifically chosen to capture and hold the interest of youth who are often reticent to counseling. Furthermore, the skills-based approach of the book aims to demystify what one actually does in session with youth by moving away from the vagueness of talk therapy when youth have nothing to say, and toward sessions that engage youth in action, stimulating communication and change. Innovative Skills to Support Well-Being and Resiliency in Youth also advocates for practice interventions that empower youth to be in charge of their personal well-being and the healing process. By doing so, youth can take an active role in their own healthy functioning, as opposed to passively receiving treatment.
Working with Adolescents: A Guide for Practitioners
2011, New York: Guilford Press
Does a wonderful job of providing overviews of its chapters, case examples, and reflective questions for practitioners to answer at the end of each chapter. It is relevant to those who are working as clinicians in private practice, school social workers, and those working with adolescents in general....This book is an important addition to the library of all social workers who work with adolescents. It takes a refreshing look at these youths at multisystem levels. Social workers can use this book as a reference, as a guide to providing clinical assessments as well as family and individual therapy when working in the school setting. The book does an excellent job in offering opportunities for practitioners to expand their clinical skills and to learn up-to-date approaches that address current issues that adolescents are facing." ― School Social Work Journal Published On: 2010-11-18
