Katharine Sperandio

Dr. Katharine Sperandio serves as Assistant Professor and CACREP-accreditation coordinator in the Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Social Work at Saint Joseph's University, where she joined the Clinical Mental Health Counseling faculty in 2022. A Licensed Professional Counselor maintaining active clinical practice in Philadelphia, she integrates real-world experience into her teaching and scholarship.

Her educational credentials include a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision (2019) and MEd in Community and Addictions Counseling (2014) from William & Mary, plus a BS in Psychology (2011) from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Sperandio's research mission centers on advancing addiction recovery sustainability and family support systems while addressing counselor stress in high-stress clinical environments. She pioneered the Multidimensional Cultural Humility Scale to measure cultural responsiveness among practitioners and investigates trauma-informed clinical training integration. Her work bridges clinical practice with scholarly rigor to transform counseling education through evidence-based approaches.

Her publications reveal emerging trends in counselor adaptation to policy changes (e.g., marijuana legalization), LGBTQ+ identity affirmation models, and innovative grief processing frameworks following client deaths in addiction treatment.

Professional recognition includes:

• Student Appreciation Award from Thomas Jefferson University (2020)
• S. Stuart Flanagan Family Graduate Fellowship from William & Mary (2016)

She directs a $50,000 Independence Blue Cross Foundation grant for Collegiate Recovery Programs while serving editorial boards for Journal of Counseling & Development and The Professional Counselor as Associate Editor. Her advising focuses on training culturally responsive clinicians through experiential learning.

Collaborating with interdisciplinary research teams, she advances projects on cultural humility assessment and trauma-informed curriculum development, driving systemic improvements in counseling education standards and clinical practice protocols.