Social Work Beyond the Classroom Lecture
Psychosocial Wellbeing in High-Stress Groups:
From Theory to Intervention
Free Webinar with 1 Endorsed CEU
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (MT)
Location: Online via Zoom Webinar (please see confirmation email)
Overview
This talk will describe a program of research developing skills-based psychosocial
resilience and wellbeing interventions for high-stress, high-performance populations,
including police officers, military service members, and youth experiencing homelessness.
Drawing on resilience theory and observational studies of stress, mental health, help-seeking,
and wellbeing in these groups, Dr. Barr will show how mindfulness, emotion regulation,
and social connectedness emerge as modifiable mechanisms that support adaptive functioning
under sustained pressure.
About Presenter
Nicholas Barr, PhD, LMSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and associate professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work. He is deeply committed to work that makes both scholarly impact and practical, real-world change in the lives of individuals. His research focuses on knowledge-building, intervention development, and implementation to support mental health, resilience, and wellbeing in high-stress populations. Dr. Barr’s most recent work explores the relatively poor treatment outcomes of veterans with trauma and stress-related disorders, as well as an examination of risk and protective factors for youth mental health-related outcomes, including suicidality and violence engagement behavior.
Dr. Barr earned his bachelor’s degree in comparative religion from Columbia University, his MSW from UCLA, and his PhD in social work from the University of Southern California. He studied Tibetan Buddhist philosophy at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India, and worked in education development in Laos on a Princeton in Asia Fellowship. After earning his PhD, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the USC’s Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families.
CEU Information
For those seeking professional development credit, 1 CEU will be issued upon successful completion of a short quiz. Please note, following the webinar, a link to the quiz will be available on the College of Social Work's events page and sent to the email address provided during registration.
Registration