Patrick Mulkern

Queer identities should not only be affirmed in therapy. They should be celebrated, admired, and honored. Patrick Mulkern (they/he) endured 22 Boston winters before moving cross country to San Diego where they worked at an emergency shelter for youth and found their passion for supporting adolescents and their families. Patrick eventually moved to the Bay Area to earn an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating Patrick worked with the San Francisco Unified School District both at the school and district levels coordinating a wellness center, supporting students and families experiencing homelessness, and responding to school and district wide crises. Patrick also has a passion for supporting students in university environments and learns so much from teaching and mentoring graduate students as a community lecturer at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare where they have taught courses on school social work practice, education policy, human sexuality, and psychopathology. In addition to direct practice, Patrick serves as the President of the California Association of School Social Workers and the Western Representative of the School Social Work Association of America. In addition to school social work, Patrick's interests include working with LGBTQ+ youth, healing-centered and anti-oppressive social work, narrative practices, and culturally informed responses to grief and loss. Patrick’s research interests are informed by the tension of schools as both sites of oppression and potential sites for liberation. They are interested in utilizing Youth Participatory Action Research to move away from research that places the onus of supporting queer youth on individuals and shifts to creating sustainable school environments where queer students are connected, safe(r), and successful. In an attempt to maintain some balance, Patrick, like many queer millennials, spends time taking care of their “plant babies,” traveling, drinking too many iced americanos, and attending drag performances.