Dr. Margo J. Heydt

Dr. Margo Heydt, Associate Professor of Social Work, received her MSW from West Virginia University in 1980, her Women's Studies certificate from the University of Cincinnati in 1987, and her Ed.D. in counseling from the same in 1994. She has been a faculty member in the Social Work Department at Xavier University since 1997, and served as the department chair for nine years. Along with various members of the Theology Department, Dr. Heydt developed and team teaches the interdisciplinary Religion, Ethics, and Professional Practice course. Within teaching that course, Dr. Heydt developed an ethical decision-making model incorporating diversity and spirituality. With co-instructor and co-author Tim Severyn, the Inclusive Wesleyan Quadrilateral Discernment Model will be published in the spring 2022 issue of The Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics. In 2006, Dr. Heydt presented a paper at the "Jesuits and Feminists" conference held at Fairfield University in Connecticut about the role of women in the history of the Jesuit Catholic religious order. As part of that research. Dr. Heydt discovered Jesuit Decree 14: Jesuits and the Situation of Women in Church and Civil Society which was issued in 1995. In 2014, Dr. Heydt was awarded Xavier University's Jesuit Faculty Fellowship to solve the "Jesuit 'whodunit'" of Decree 14 and travel to Seattle, Ireland, and Australia to interview Jesuits and lay people involved in the creation of this document. In 2021, Dr. Heydt was awarded the Xavier University Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Award. In addition, issues such as intimate partner violence, sexual assault and child abuse, and addiction have been long time specialties for Dr. Heydt in her practice as well as teaching and research. This includes a focus on clergy abuse as described in the 2012 publication with Dr. William O'Connell "The Hope and Healing Response Team Program Model: A Social Work Intervention for Clergy Abuse" found in The Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics.

Research Interests: Sexual Child Abuse, Intimate Partner Abuse, Clergy Abuse, Addictions, Professional Practice Ethics

Expertise

Psychotherapy, Qualitative Research, Women's Studies, Community Organizing