Oliver J. Johnson is an Associate Professor, as well as the Certificate in Substance Abuse Studies Coordinator in the Department of Social Work at Fayetteville State University. Dr. Johnson has been a clinical social work practitioner for twenty-eight years, having served most recently as the Director for Harper University Hospital’s Canfield Health Services, a comprehensive out-patient mental health and substance abuse counseling clinic designed specifically for persons living with HIV/AIDS disease in the metropolitan Detroit area, and as Clinical Supervisor with Holy Cross. Dr. Johnson has conducted workshops nationally, regionally, and locally in a wide variety of forums on issues uniquely pivotal to the promotion of health and wellness among African American families. He is a licensed clinical social worker, a Diplomat in Clinical Social Work and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
Dr. Johnson’s research interests continue to center around the development and utilization of evidence-based modalities for use with severely traumatized African American adolescents and families, as well as the development of empirically-grounded approaches for capturing the essence of spirituality as a primary coping paradigm among particularly vulnerable families of color. He is also interested in the process by which African American families become adversely affected by addictive behavioral disorders.