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Rana Hong, PhD, LCSW, RPT-S

MSW Program Director; Clinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Hong received her Master of Social Work degree from Jane Addams College of Social work at UIC and Ph.D. in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago examining effectiveness of Practitioner’s experiences in utilizing Theraplay Model for adoptive children and families. Dr. Hong joined SSW after over 20 years of clinical experience with children, adolescents, and families who suffered from issues of attachment, trauma, and emotional/behavioral problems. As a leading registered play therapy supervisor (RPT-S) and trainer, Dr. Hong holds many rigorous certifications in evidence-based models: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist and consultant; DIR/Floortime training expert leader; Parent-Child interaction Theraplay (PCIT) therapist and within agency trainer; Theraplay practitioner, supervisor, trainer. She served as the president of the board at the international organization -The Theraplay Institute from 2016-2022. As part of her ongoing commitment to community service, she currently serves as a board of directors at EMDR International Association. Dr. Hong teaches advanced clinical practice courses. Her current research are centered around validating Perceived Youth Barriers Scale (PYBS), evaluating effective supervision models, and examining evidence-based models for traumatized and disadvantaged children and youth

Research Interests

  • Practice with children and adolescents
  • Mixed methodologies for program evaluations
  • Validating evidence-based models for traumatized and disadvantaged children and youth
  • Metric development for children and youth