Professional
Biography:
Giselle
Hernandez Navarro, Ph.D., LCSW, CADC, NCC, ACS is an Assistant Professor of
Social Work at Governors State University, specializing in clinical practice,
addiction counseling, and trauma recovery. She completed her Counselor
Educationand Supervision
doctorate degree at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in 2023. Dr. Navarro
earned a Bachelor of ArtsDegree in Applied Psychology with High Departmental Distinction
from the University of Illinois atChicago (UIC) in 2007. Dr. Navarro graduated from the University
of Chicago with a Master of ArtsDegree in Clinical Social Service Administration, specializing in
school social work in 2009. Dr. Navarrocompleted her education in addiction counseling at Waubonsee
Community College in 2018. Dr. Navarromaintains the following licensures in the state of Illinois:
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (149.020788),School Social Worker Endorsement (871714), Certified Addictions
Counselor (34707), National CertifiedCounselor (1727803), and Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS-4974).
Her professional background hasbeen influenced by 16 years of clinical work in multiple community
settings: foster care, elementary and highschools, an autism home support program, an inpatient hospital, an
intensive outpatient addiction recovery program, a college counseling center, and private practice.
Dr.
Navarro has nine years of experience as an instructor and supervisor in higher
education. Since 2024, she has served as an assistant professor at Governors
State University, where she published her research on Collegiate Recovery
Programs (CRPs) in About Campus, a scholarly peer-reviewed journal
focusing on issues affecting college students, faculty, and administrators. Her
research has also examined the ambiguous loss associated with Alcohol Use
Disorders (AUD) on affected family members, along with studies on attachment to
God, religious coping, and alcohol use, published in the International
Journal for the Psychology of Religion.
In
2025, Dr. Navarro was selected as lead faculty to train and facilitate an
evidence-based, anti-racist trauma course at Governors State University,
following a competitive, nationally recognized recruitment process sponsored by
the National Initiative for Trauma Education and Workforce Development (NITEWD)
and the University of North Carolina School of Social Work in Chapel Hill.
Recently, she was elected as a consulting editor for Social Work, an
academic journal sponsored by the National Association of Social Workers
(NASW).
Based
on her clinical and research experience, Dr. Navarro has provided educators
with practical strategies for incorporating trauma-informed approaches into
their classrooms. These workshops have been highly requested by Governors State
University’s College of Education and College of Health and Human Services, as
well as by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)’s Training Institute for
School Social Work Professionals. Additionally, Dr. Navarro has presented her
research on trauma-informed practices and addiction at Governors State
University’s 2025 Spring Faculty Professional Development Day and the Research
Days 2025 Conference.
Dr.
Navarro is also an active member of several collegiate committees, including
the University Curriculum Committee, the Social Work Curriculum Committee, the
College of Health and Human Services’ Interprofessional Education Committee,
and the Research Mixer Committee. Since 2021, she has been part of the Illinois
Certification Board’s leadership team, designing evidence-based workshops for
addiction professionals.
Manuscripts:
Hernandez Navarro, G. (2025). Room to recover on Campus:
Rising together with Collegiate Recovery Programs. About Campus, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10864822251369857
Hernandez Navarro, G. (2023). The ambiguous loss of
alcohol use disorders on affected family members: Can Al-Anon involvement and
psychological flexibility make a difference? [Archived dissertation].
Northern Illinois University. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2827376746
(Navarro) Hernandez, G., Salerno, J., & Bottoms, B. L.
(2010). Attachment to God, religious coping, and alcohol use. International
Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 20(2), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508611003607983
Curriculum
Vitae