PSU History
Shannon joined the School of Social Work as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Fall 2022. She had previously collaborated with both the Regional Research Center for Human Services (2021-2022) and the EASA Center of Excellence with the PSU-OHSU School of Public Health (2013-2018) on early psychosis research with young adults and families.
Experience
Prior to joining the School of Social Work at Portland State, Dr. Blajeski completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan School of Social Work where she received training in mental health intervention research. Shannon received her PhD in Social Welfare and MSW from the University of Washington School of Social Work. Her scholarly work is deeply and intractably influenced by her seven years as a practicing MSW in both micro (homeless services, psychiatric inpatient, and community mental health) and macro (implementation/evaluation of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model) settings.
Academic Interests
Broadly, Dr. Blajeski’s scholarly area aims to embrace social work practice contributions to improve psychosocial outcomes for individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum conditions, including adults and young adults with early psychosis. In particular, her work applies an anti-poverty and critical lens to the existing models of treatment for these populations and is concerned with developing and/or enhancing existing evidence-based models in this area. Her current body of work involves: 1) the development of an early engagement and career development phase to the Supported Employment & Education model for young adults with psychosis who are “not in education, employment, or training” (NEET) and 2) improving social work practice training for individuals with schizophrenia spectrum conditions by restructuring and revitalizing our fields historical and current contributions to supporting populations with serious mental illnesses.
Personal Interests
Shannon spends her non-academic life chasing her toddler and Labrador Retriever, enjoying the seasons and landscapes, and finding the perfect Northwest wine for the perfect weather.