Faculty Profile for Dr. Christine Norton

profile photo for Dr. Christine Norton
Dr. Christine Norton
Professor — School of Social Work
ENC 150
phone: (512) 245-4562

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Dr. Christine Lynn Norton received her Ph.D. in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. She has a Master of Arts in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University-Mankato. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Board Approved Supervisor in the State of Texas. She has over 20 years of experience working with youth and young adults in a variety of settings including therapeutic wilderness programs, juvenile justice, schools, mentoring and campus support programs. She has taught as adjunct faculty at The University of Denver, Prescott College, and Naropa University. Her areas of practice and research interest and expertise are in positive youth development; innovative interventions in child and adolescent mental health; adventure therapy; outdoor behavioral healthcare; experiential education; foster care support in higher education; and international social work. Dr. Norton is a Research Scientist with the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center and she helped launch Foster Care Alumni Creating Educational Success (FACES) at Texas State. She is the Foster Care Liaison Officer to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and is the founder of the Foster Care Adventure Therapy Network, an international group of programs and practitioners who utilize adventure therapy with current and former foster care youth and young adults. Dr. Norton has over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, has edited three books, and has authored over ten book chapters. She has secured over $3,162,154 in internal and external research funding as PI and co-investigator, is a leading social work scholar who has presented her research nationally and internationally. Dr. Norton is active in study abroad and is also a Fulbright Scholar, having taught adventure therapy in the Department of Civic Education and Leadership at National Taiwan Normal University.

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Denny, S., Norton, C. L., & Tucker, A. R. (2023). Promoting resilience in college students through group-based adventure therapy: An exploratory study. Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, 15. https://doi.org/10.19157/JTSP.issue.15.01.03
  • Norton, C. L., Tucker, A., Rupe, B., & Riley, M. (2023). Positive youth development and adventure therapy with underserved youth: An evaluation of the Chicago Voyagers Program. Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, 15(4), 48–65. https://doi.org/10.18666/JOREL-2023-11703
  • Jeffery, H., Smith, A., Richards, K., Borroel, F., Norton, C. L., Pryor, A., … Rose, A. (2023). ‘Cooking up a good practitioner’: What are the necessary ingredients of International Adventure Therapy training and development? International Journal of Adventure Therapy. Retrieved from https://journal-adventure-therapy.com/product/cooking-up-a-good-practitioner-what-are-the-necessary-ingredients-of-international-adventure-therapy-training-and-development/
  • Lown, A., Otto, H., Norton, C. L., Jong, M., & Jong, M. (2023). Program evaluation: A wilderness experience for adolescents facing cancer. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291856
  • Tucker, A. R., Norton, C. L., DeMille, S., Talbot, B., & Keefe, M. (2022). Wilderness Programs. In Handbook of evidence-based day treatment programs for children and adolescents. New York, NY: Springer.

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center Invited Research Scientist. 2010 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Award for Service, Texas State University. August 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Heart of Adventure Therapy Award, Association for Experiential Education Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group. November 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: CAA 2021 College Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching. August 2021
  • Award / Honor Nominee: 2020 College of Applied Arts Dean’s Nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities. 2020

Selected Grants

  • Norton, Christine L. Cross-fertilising Bush Adventure Therapy and Contemporary Green Perspectives within Social Work Education, The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), Private / Foundation / Corporate, $4000. (Submitted: November 30, 2017, Funded: 2018). Grant.
  • Norton, Christine L (Co-Principal), Lopez, Minda M (Principal). How Stories Define Us: The Importance of Diverse Storytelling, Equity and Access, Texas State University, $1100. (Funded: November 2018). Grant.
  • Norton, Christine L. Trauma-Informed Adventure Therapy with Families Affected by Abuse and Neglect, Hogg Foundation’s Mental Health Research Grants for Tenure-Track Assistant Professors, $19245. (Funded: 2013). Grant.
  • Norton, Christine L. Building bridges: Evaluation of a mentoring program for college students who are alumni of the foster care system, Research Enhancement Program Grant, $6334. (Funded: December 2009). Grant.
  • Norton, Christine L. New Heights: Adventure-based Group Work in Social Work Education, Association for Experiential Education van der Smissen Research, $250. (Funded: April 2009). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Member
Doctoral Planning Committee
2023-Present
Member
Texas Children in Nature Network Regional Collaborative
2022-Present
Member
Association for Experiential Education Social Justice Committee
2022-Present
Member
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Advisory Board
2021-Present
Board Member
VetRec Outdoors
2021-Present