Melanie Chung Sherman, LCSW

Biography

Melanie Chung Sherman, DSW, LCSW-S, CEDS, is a clinical social worker, and Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC) Board-approved clinical supervisor since 2010. Dr. Chung Sherman joined the psychiatry staff at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2022 and became the director of the UT Southwestern Social Work Fellowship in 2023. Before joining UTSW, Dr. Chung Sherman’s background included private and public mental health and social services in various roles, including direct practice, clinical leadership, research, and program development, serving diverse communities impacted by complex mental health needs since 1999. She founded and owned a private practice specializing in transracial adoption, complex neurodevelopmental trauma, social oppression, mood disorders, and adoption life span dynamics. Dr. Chung Sherman was a regional clinical manager for a national eating disorder treatment center.

Dr. Chung Sherman received her Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2004. In 2023, she received her Doctor of Social Work (DSW) from the University of Alabama (UA), Tuscaloosa, as the first Asian-Pacific Islander to complete UA's DSW program. She was awarded the Writing to Advance Social Work and Social Justice Award from UA in 2023. She was elected the Region 3 Representative for the National Association of Social Workers - Texas (NASW-TX) Board of Directors from 2019 to 2022 and created the NASW-TX Diversity Analysis Committee. She completed her Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) certification and training in 2024 through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP™). She is an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) trained therapist. She trained under Mary Main, Ph.D., and Erik Hesse, Ph.D., at the University of California at Berkeley’s Adult Attachment Interview Institute.

Her specialties include complex neurodevelopmental trauma, women/femme mental health, QTBIPOC+ mental health, eating disorders, body image, racial and social oppression, treatment-resistant depression, clinical supervision, and attachment dynamics. Dr. Chung Sherman has advanced training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), narrative therapy (NT), and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) but utilizes a person-centered approach.

Dr. Chung Sherman is an adjunct professor for Tulane University and the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Schools of Social Work. She teaches undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level social work, including Emotional Trauma and Social Work, Human Behavior in the Social Environment, Social Oppression and Race, Child and Family Welfare, Clinical Supervision and Ethics, Introduction to Social Work, and MSW Field/Practicum.

Dr. Chung Sherman's commitment to social justice is evident in her extensive speaking and training engagements. She has shared her insights internationally, nationally, and state-wide, advocating for Asian-Pacific Islander mental health, transracial adoption dynamics, suicidality within marginalized populations, eating disorders, and complex trauma. She aims to combat mental health stigma, address power-based violence, and deconstruct structural oppression.

License Information

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