For Assistant Professor Amy Meyers, teaching at The College of New Rochelle has been a natural extension of her 20 years as a social worker.

In her role as a clinical and administrative supervisor and field instructor with mental health agencies, she discovered that she had a passion for sharing her knowledge with others. "It was a piece of the work that I really enjoyed," says Meyers.

 The realization prompted her to try on a more formal teaching role at Fordham University. This experience prompted her to continue her adjunct experience at various MSW programs including Hunter College and Yeshiva University. During this time she worked as a clinical director, psychotherapy supervisor, and program developer.

Meyers now seeks opportunities to teach in varying capacities: she consults and provides training workshops for child welfare staff at various Departments of Social Services in the metropolitan area, informs parents on ways to protect children from bullying, and consults with the Associate Dean of Enrollment Management at Hunter College School of Social Work on best practices. She also maintains a private practice in New York City.

Meyers is entering her fourth year as a member of the CNR faculty and says she has enjoyed the intimate nature of The College's Social Work program. "There is the ability to work with students individually which is sometimes lacking at the larger institutions," she says. "It's been wonderful truly getting to know your students, seeing them go to graduate school and become contributors in the field."

Meyers is looking forward to serving as the department chair next semester, and hopes to organize more events on campus, similar to a recent panel of social work professionals sharing the diverse nature of the field. She also has plans to develop a course on family systems, examining the influence of family dynamics on individual functioning and interpersonal relatedness.

"I was always interested in the emotional lives of people: how they feel and behave – and what motivates action or inaction," Meyers says, "especially the impact of family environment and culture on how we interact with the world." A particular interest is the subject of sibling abuse on which Meyers wrote her dissertation. She has presented at national conferences, and has conducted professional trainings on sibling abuse assessment and intervention.

"It's an understudied phenomenon," Meyers says. "The primary focus is often on the influence of parents on child development -- we tend to overlook the influence of sibling relationships."

Meyers is also interested in the issue of bullying. She will be co-teaching a course on the subject, and developed an anti-bullying committee who brought a series of presentations to the general student population.

The Long Island native says she enjoys hearing about students' internship experiences as they integrate theory and practice. The lively discussions that ensue in the classroom, she says, show that knowledge is transferable, even across different client populations.

"It's a thrill watching students have that 'a-ha moment' when they learn something new about their own values, perceptions, and biases and consider its influence on the client-worker relationship. Observing personal and professional growth through the development of self-awareness and reflective process is a reward I hadn't anticipated."