Wheaton College Home Psychology at Wheaton College
 
  

 

Overview

Faculty & Staff

Courses

Programs

Costs & Outcomes

Research

Opportunities
& Activities

Clinical Training

Diversity

Alumni

Handbooks/Forms



 

    

Sally Schwer Canning
Associate Professor, Psychology
On faculty since 1994

Phone: (630) 752-7045
Fax: (630) 752-7033
E-Mail: Sally.S.Canning@wheaton.edu
Education

Ph.D. Professional-Scientific Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, (APA Approved), 1994.

Internship: Hahnemann UniversityHospital (APA Approved), Philadelphia, PA, 1992-93

Post-doctoral training: Institute for Juvenile Research, UIC, Chicago, IL, 1994 Licensed Clinical Psychologist since 1997

M.S. Ed. Psychological Services, University of Pennsylvania, 1988

B.A. Music Performance, Gettysburg College, 1982

 
Professional and Personal Interests
A community/clinical-child psychologist, Dr. Canning is committed to learning from and serving urban, low-income, children and families-of-color, to linking the resources of faith-based community and campus organizations for the benefit of under-resourced communities, and to training psychologists for competent practice with underserved populations. Dr. Canning directs the Urban Partnership Initiative, with a mission to support the health-care and educational objectives of faith-based, community organizations serving poor urban neighborhoods. Her scholarly interests include parenting and parent training, and the development and evaluation of culturally-relevant, community-based interventions. Articles published by Dr. Canning may be found in Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, The Community Psychologist, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Health and Development, Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, Journal of Psychology and Theology, and the Journal of Psychology and Christianity. Dr. Canning and her husband and daughter enjoy their membership in a church in "the 'hood" committed to faith-based community development and racial reconciliation. She enjoys making and listening to music, shooting videos and still photos, running with her golden retriever, and going anywhere sunny, beautiful or interesting with her family..

Courses Taught
  • Community Psychology
  • Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents
  • Practica Seminar

Membership in Professional Societies
  • American Psychological Association (www.apa.org)
  • Society for Community Research & Action (www.apa.org/division/div27)
  • Christian Community Health Fellowship (www.cchf.org)

Research
Almost all Dr. Schwer Canning's research is done in collaboration with people in the community, colleagues and/or students. Wise mentoring and experience have taught me that collaboration results in a better product, a richer process and a lot more fun! Recent research projects involving community members and students that are a part of the Urban Partnership Initiative include: The "Strengthening Linkages" project, funded by a fellowship from Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, involves assessing and encouraging mental health-related collaborations between faith-based community health clinics serving poor communities, and faith-based institutions of higher learning. The low-income communities served by the healthcare organizations assessed through this project are ethnically and geographically diverse. This study is being conducted in partnership with the Christian Community Health Fellowship, a national network of Christian health professionals and health care ministry organizations concerned about the health care needs of impoverished communities in the United States. The study is funded by a fellowship from Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. The "Kingdom Assessment" project is an evaluation of the impact of the faith-based elements of an inner-city school's environment on a variety of valued educational outcomes. This project takes place at Circle Rock Preparatory School, a Christian private elementary school located in the Austin neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. CRPS serves over 200 African American students in grades K-8 who come from predominantly low and very low-income families. The "Community in the Family" project is an evaluation of the adventure-based family-building programming, delivered to a socio-economically and ethnically diverse group of over 600 families in almost 40 settings in urban and suburban communities. This project is being conducted for the Big Idea Foundation, the charitable arm of Big Idea Productions, a family media company that is the creator of the popular VeggieTales® and 3-2-1 Penguins! video series and other media products. The missions of both the Company and the Foundation reflect a concern for the negative and isolating effects of popular media on families and communities. Instead, both organizations seek to promote biblical values and encourage spiritual growth through creative media (Big Idea Productions) and fun, relationship-building activities (Big Idea Foundation).

Papers Published and/or Presented

  • Canning, S. S. & Jones, S. (in press). Community and preventive psychology. In S. Jones & R. Butman (Eds.), Modern Psychotherapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal. Revised Edition. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
  • Canning, S. S., Manz, P., McWayne, C. & Fantuzzo, J. W. (March, 2007). Beyond the Institutional Review Board: Doing justice in community-based research. Symposium presented at the conference “Transformation of the Person in Christ,” sponsored by the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Canning, S. S.,  Yangarber-Hicks, N., Behensky, C., Flanagan, K.S., Gibson, N. J. S., Hicks, M. W., Kimball, C. N., Pak, J. H., Plante, T., & Porter, S. L. (2006). Invitation to the table conversation: A few diverse perspectives on integration. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 25(4), 338-353.
  • Canning, S. S. & Etienne, N. (March, 2006). A moveable feast: Recovering hospitality in psychological practice. Paper presented at the conference sponsored by the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.
  • Canning, S. S. (2005). Psychological resources in faith-based community settings: Applications, adaptations, and innovations. In M. R. McMinn & A. W. Dominguez (Eds.), Psychology and the church, pp. 137-143. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.
  • Canning, S. S. (September, 2005). Hospitality and incarnation: Recovering hospitality for justice in Christian healthcare practice and training. Paper presented at the conference “Justice, Spirituality and Pedagogy” sponsored by the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI.
  • Canning, S. S., Gregory, R. J., Lee, T. W. & Wise, J. C. (2004). Is cognitive bibliotherapy effective in treating depression? Clinician’s Research Digest, 22(12).
  • Canning, S. S., Arnold, D., & Halterman, M. (September, 2004). Building partnerships in support of mental health services. Workshop conducted at the annual conference of Catholic Charities, USA, Denver, CO.
  • Meek, K. R. & Canning, S. S. (2002). Guest editors' page. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 21(4), 299-300. [Special Issue: Underserved Populations].
  • Canning, S. S., Neal, M., Fine, M. & Meese, K. J. (2002).  Mental health: The hole in holistic Christian, community-based healthcare?  Health and Development, (1),11-17. 
  • Canning, S.S. & Case, P., & Kruse, S. J. (2002).  Contemporary Christian psychological scholarship and "the least of these": An empirical review.  Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 20(3), 205-223.
  • Kruse, S. J. & Canning, S. S. (2002). Practitioners' perceptions of vocational rewards in work with underserved groups:  Implications for "rightsizing" the psychology workforce.  Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, 33(1), 58-64. 
  • Meese, K.J., Watson, C.D., Haworth, B.D. & Canning, S. S. (2001). Growing community psychologists in clinical psychology contexts: A student perspective. The Community Psychologist, 34(3), 37-38.
  • McMinn, M. R., Meek, K. R., Canning, S. S. & Pozzi, C., F., (2001).  Training psychologists to work with religious organizations: The Center for Church-Psychology Collaboration.  Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32(3), 324-328. 
  • Kimball, C. N., Watson, T., Canning, S. S. & Brady, J. L. (2001).  Missing Voices: Professional challenges for academic women.  Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 20(2), 132-144.
  • Canning, S.S., Pozzi, C. F., McNeil, J. D., & McMinn, M. R. (2000).  Integration as service: Implications of faith-praxis integration for training.  Journal of Psychology & Theology, Vol 28(3), pp. 201-211.
  • Canning, S.S. & Fantuzzo, J.W. (2000).  Competent families, collaborative professionals: Empowered parent education for low-income African-American families. [Special Issue: Diverse families, competent families: Innovations in research and preventive intervention practice]  Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 20(1/2), 179-196.
  • Canning, S.S. (1999, Winter).  Stretching Procrusteus: True confessions on the road to cultural competence in community research and action. [Special Issue: Cultural competence in community research and action].  The Community Psychologist, 32(1), 30-32.