Dr. Christine Norton, LCSW-S, CCAT, CCTP, CET

Professor

Dr. Christine Lynn Norton received her Ph.D. in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. She has a Master of Arts in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University-Mankato. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas. Dr. Norton is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a board-approved supervisor in Texas. She has over 30 years of experience working with youth and young adults in various settings, including therapeutic wilderness programs, juvenile justice, schools, mentoring, and campus support programs. She has taught as adjunct faculty at The University of Denver, Prescott College, and Naropa University. Her practice and research areas are positive youth development, innovative interventions in child and adolescent mental health, trauma-informed care, adventure therapy, outdoor behavioral healthcare, experiential education, foster care support in higher education, and international social work. Dr. Norton was a Research Scientist with the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center and is now the co-director of the Outdoor Research Collaborative for Health, Wellbeing, and Experiential Engagement. She helped launch Foster Care Alumni Creating Educational Success (FACES) at Texas State and served as the Foster Care Liaison Officer to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for over ten years. She now serves as the Faculty Advisor for the FACES Student Organization. Dr. Norton founded the Foster Care Adventure Therapy Network, an international group of programs and practitioners that utilize adventure therapy with current and former foster care youth and young adults. Dr. Norton has over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, has edited three books, and has authored over ten book chapters. She has secured over $3,162,154 in internal and external research funding as PI and co-investigator and is a leading social work scholar who has presented her research nationally and internationally. As an Honorary Professor of International Studies, Dr. Norton has been active in study abroad and was a Fulbright Scholar, teaching adventure therapy in the Department of Civic Education and Leadership at National Taiwan Normal University. She is a TEDx speaker and ActivatEE storytelling coach, and she incorporates storytelling into her work to enhance resilience, leadership, and community.