Dr. Katherine Kranz

Dr. Katherine Kranz, Ph.D., associate professor of social work, has been a part of the Providence College community for the past 13 years. Most recently, she held the position of associate dean of the School of Professional Studies from 2019-20 with a focus on faculty development and student engagement. Previously, she held the position of chair for the social work department from 2016-19.

Dr. Kranz teaches micro-practice courses in the Providence College Department of Social Work and a “Current Trends in the Addictions” elective course that is open to all majors and includes a homelessness outreach component. Each year she engages in research with her students that results in peer-reviewed presentations at major conferences around the nation. Most recently, in the past year, these conferences have included the Southwest Social Science Conference (SWSS) in San Diego, California, and the NYSCHA-NECHA Annual Meeting in Saratoga, New York.

Dr. Kranz’s early scholarship focused on quantitative research with a focus on the development and use of a substance abuse treatment self-efficacy scale (SATSES), a copyrighted scale requested for use in studies nationally and internationally today. Her current research is qualitative in nature focusing on narrative storytelling, adoption, addiction, mental health, and sibling relationships. She was recently announced as a Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation Fellow where she will receive scholarship funds to travel to Portugal next year. Her research, entitled Transformative Justice: Learning from Portugal’s Stories of Change, will provide opportunities to collaborate and learn from key stakeholders in the fields of mental health and addictions. She is a published contributor and serves as a peer reviewer in the journal titled, Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping.

She has 40 years of practice experience with adolescents, adults, and families with addiction and mental health problems. She has always been interested in addictions and mental health clinical work, specifically dedicated to improving the lives of diverse and vulnerable populations.

She was honored by her peers as Social Worker of the Year from the NASW-RI Chapter for her work in the area of addictions (1989); Group Practice Social Workers of the Year (1999); and Mental Health Practice (2018). She earned her Ph.D. in social work from Boston College, MSW from Rhode Island College, and BA in psychology from the University of Rhode Island.