Yamile M. Martí Haidar

Yamile M. Martí Haidar has taught at the Columbia School of Social Work since 2011. She has worked at the individual, community, and policy levels at mental health organizations, schools, community centers, and government agencies. She has clinical experience working with people affected by substance abuse and mental illness, and with children and families in the child welfare system. She has conducted therapy and group work with families and children in public schools, as well as with cancer patients, abused women, and abused/neglected children, among others.

Dr. Martí has conducted research on the implementation and evaluation of a teacher-training intervention for empowerment, as well as a community empowerment intervention in Puerto Rico. She worked with Dr. Katherine Shear of CSSW on a five-year randomized control trial funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, designed to compare the effectiveness of Interpersonal Therapy versus Complicated Grief Treatment. Dr. Martí collaborated with Dr. Ellen Lukens and Dr. Mary Sormanti of CSSW on a psychoeducation intervention for young women who are pregnant and in foster care and conducted a qualitative study on the experiences of foster care mothers.

Dr. Martí’s research areas include the development of resiliency and coping skills for children and women in crisis or facing adversity, the implementation and evaluation of interventions that promote positive mental health in children and women, psychoeducation, international social work, and the role of psychosocial and cultural factors on mental health.

Dr. Martí is interested in the globalization of social work education. She has conducted research on intimate partner violence, contraception, and economic empowerment among Jordanian women and has worked as a social worker in Jordan and in Puerto Rico. She developed a course at CSSW that incorporates travel to Cuba and Chile. She has served as a consultant for UNICEF in Abkhazia and Macedonia.

Dr. Martí holds an MA from Teachers College and an MSW and PhD from the Columbia School of Social Work.