Jeffrey Steen

Jeffrey Steen, PhD, MSW, BASW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Simmons University. Informed by his years of professional practice experience in the areas of substance use services and harm reduction, he is active with numerous student training programs, grant-funded studies, and teaching initiatives that foreground these issues.

At Simmons, Dr. Steen primarily teaches in the onground and online platforms of the MSW program and serves as course manager for the substance use and research classes. Through several mechanisms, he provides advising and support for graduate and doctoral level students in a variety of areas, such as involving them as graduate/ research assistants on his projects, co-authoring articles and co-presenting at professional conferences with students, and serving on dissertation committees of PhD students.

In addition to his teaching, service, and scholarship at Simmons, Dr. Steen maintains a small private practice in which he primarily provides services for people with substance use disorders.

Area of Expertise

Dr. Steen’s clinical practice, teaching, and research focus on substance use, harm reduction-informed approaches, and behavioral health services. He also studies the professional and lived experiences of service providers and students in the helping professions. 

Education

PhD, Social Work, New York University, New York, New York

MSW, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

BA, Social Work, Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio

License/ Certifications

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Courses

SW 421 A and B: Social Work Practice

SW 422: Substance Use and Social Work (onground and online)

SW 441: Social Work Research (onground and online)

Community Engagement

Dr. Steen is a Disaster Mental Health volunteer with the Greater Boston chapter of the Red Cross. As part of his involvement with this organization, he provides free behavioral health services, locally and nationally, for people who have survived disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and acts of violence. Dr. Steen is exploring a variety of opportunities to support capacity-building with community organizations in Massachusetts, in particular initiatives that expand access to and efficacy of substance use services, such as harm reduction-informed programs.

Research/ Special Projects

Most of Dr. Steen’s research explores substance use, addictions treatment, and the experiences of service providers and students involved in this practice area. For instance, through his recent work as an Associate Research Scientist at New York University he was a contributing investigator on a study of over 6,000 licensed social workers in the United States, exploring the ways in which substance use, mental health, physical problems,, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and other factors have influenced their work. He was recently an investigator with a qualitative study that explored how COVID-19 and the shift to online 12-Step meetings influenced recovery experiences. 

Committed to behavioral health and harm reduction-focused scholarship, he is currently conducting a grant-funded qualitative study; anticipating the state’s establishment of supervised consumption sites, this project is assessing provider readiness and recommendations of people who use drugs to understand how their experiences can influence the development and implementation of this model of care in the substance use and HIV services ecosystems. Additionally, he is currently engaging in a content analysis of historical records, examining how social workers have approached the delivery of substance use services through time. 

Current Grant Funding

2024–2025: Principal Investigator. Preparing to establish an overdose prevention center: Exploring the perspectives of HIV and substance use service providers and people who use drugs in Worcester, Massachusetts. A subaward through New York University, funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse. Award amount: $25,000

2024–2025: Project Director. HaRT Scholars Program. Funded by RIZE Massachusetts. Award amount: $85,000 

Publications/Presentations

Select Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications

Downing, M. J., Jr., Benoit, E., & Steen, J. T. (2025). Understanding Black and Latino sexual minority men’s perspectives on assessment of sexual history in diverse health care settings. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 17(2), 245–248. 
https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001662

Steen, J. T., Chanan, D., Kravitz, T., Straussner, S. L. A., & Senreich, E. (under review). Exploring physical health problems among licensed social workers: Qualitative findings from a multistate study. 

Downing, M., Benoit, E., & Steen, J. T. (2024). Understand Black and Latino sexual minority men’s perspectives on assessment of sexual history in diverse healthcare settings. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001662

Steen, J. T., Straussner, S. L. A., Senreich, E., Dempsey, A., Huang, F., & Willoughby, M. (2023). Behavioral health service use among licensed social workers: A qualitative inquiry. Social Work in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2023.2254752

Downing, M. J., Benoit, E., Coe, L., Brown, D., & Steen, J. T. (2023). Examining cultural competence and sexual abuse training needs among service providers working with Black and Latino sexual minority men. Journal of Social Service Research, 49(1), 79-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2022.2157524

Senreich, E., Steen, J. T., & Straussner, S. L. A. (2022). Utilization of mental health and substance use disorder services by social workers in 13 U.S. states. Social Work in Mental Health, 20(6), 682-701. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2022.2053028

Senreich, E., Saint-Louis, N., Steen, J. T., & Cooper, C. (2022). The experiences of 12-Step program attendees transitioning to online meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 39(4), 500-517. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2022.2102456

Steen, J. T., Straussner, S. L. A., & Senreich, E. (2021). Adverse Childhood Experiences and career-related issues among licensed social workers: A qualitative study. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 91(3), 216-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2021.1887790

Steen, J. T., Senreich, E., & Straussner, S. L. A. (2021). Adverse Childhood Experiences among licensed social workers. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 102(2), 182-193. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389420929618

Senreich, E., Straussner, S. L. A., & Steen, J.T. (2020). The work experiences of social workers: Factors impacting compassion satisfaction and workplace stress. Journal of Social Service Research, 46(1), 93 109. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2018.1528491

Straussner, S. L. A., Senreich, E., & Steen, J. T. (2018). Wounded healers: A multistate study of social workers’ behavioral health problems. Social Work, 63(2), 125-133. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swy012

Downing Jr, M., Brown, D., Steen, J.T., & Benoit, E. (2018). Understanding the impact of abuse on men's risk behavior: Protocol for a mixed methods study. JMIR Research Protocols, 72(2), e62. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.9071

Other Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals 

Steen, J.T. & Monteiro, C. B. (2024). Envisioning the evolution of substance use services: Social work and the establishment of overdose prevention centers. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 24(4), 425-431. https://doi-org/10.1080/1533256X.2024.2423925

Steen, J. T. (2023). Review of The urge: Our history of addiction by Carl Erik Fisher. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 23(3), 256-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/1533256X.2023.2199594

Steen, J. T. (2023). Review of Risk management in the behavioral health professions: A practice guide to preventing malpractice and licensing-board complaints by Frederic G. Reamer. International Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 20(2), 13. https://doi.org/10.55521/10-020-200

Steen, J. T., & Kravitz, T. (2023). Social workers and physical health: Imperative medical issues and COVID-19. Health & Social Work, 48(1), 75-78. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlac034

Steen, J. T., & Cooper, C. (2022). “I had to fix me”: Social workers and substance misuse. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 22(4), 344-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/1533256X.2022.2084276

Steen, J. T., Kravitz, T., & Straussner, S. L. A. (2018). Lessons learned from a web-based study of mental health and alcohol and other drug problems among social workers in the USA. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 16(4), 975-980. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-017-9820-5

Books

With Dr. Shulamith Lala Ashenberg Straussner, Dr. Steen will be co-editor and chapter author of the 4th edition of the book, Clinical Practice with Clients with Substance Use Disorders. This book will be published in 2026.

Publications in Popular Press

Steen, J. T. (2023). Reversing the war on drugs, one overdose at a time. CommonWealth Beacon. https://commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/reversing-the-war-on-drugs-one-overdose-at-a-time/ 

Steen, J. T.  (2021). What recovery from meth addiction taught me about harm reduction. Filter.  https://filtermag.org/meth-recovery-harm-reduction/ 

Recent Presentations at Professional Conferences

Hall, T., & Steen, J T. (2025, April). Harm reduction social work training and implementation in 
the community: What’s next? [Conference presentation: poster]. Boston Medical Center, 
Together for Hope: Addiction Conference 2025, Worcester, MA.

Johnson, E., Chanan, D., & Steen, J. T. (2025, January). Building community beyond the 
classroom: A phenomenological study exploring group chats among social work students. 
[Conference presentation: poster]. Society for Social Work and Research, Annual 
Conference, Seattle, WA.

Steen, J. T. (2024, October). Supervised consumption sites: Emerging settings for social work 
practice with people who use drugs. [Conference presentation: poster]. Council on Social 
Work Education, Annual Program Meeting, Kansas City, MO.

Steen, J. T., Tedrow, T., Chanan, D., & Johnson, E. (2024, October). Exploring and supporting 
social work students’ experiences with group chats: An interactive workshop. [Conference 
presentation: interactive workshop]. Council on Social Work Education, Annual Program 
Meeting, Kansas City, MO.

Steen, J. T. (2024). Exploring the professional impact of social workers’ own substance misuse and treatment experiences. Boston Medical Center, Together for Hope: Boston Addiction Conference 2024, Boston, MA.

Steen, J. T., Senreich, E., & Cooper, C. (2023). 12-Step participants’ experiences transitioning to online meetings during the onset of COVID-19. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Rural Drug Addiction Research Center, Symposium on Substance Use Research, online.

Steen, J. T., & Chanan, D. (2023). Call for action: The scope and impact of social workers’ physical health problems.Council on Social Work Education, Annual Program Meeting, Atlanta, GA.

Daniels, D., Tedrow, T., Chanan, D., Steen, J. T. (2023). Transforming educational experiences: Social work students and group chats. International Association of Social Work with Groups, Annual Symposium, online.

Steen, J. T., Cooper, C., & Ramos, S. N. (2022). Critical conversations: What we know about substance misuse among social workers. Council on Social Work Education, Annual Program Meeting, Anaheim, CA.

Downing, M. J., Benoit, E., & Steen, J. T. (2022). Understanding Black and Latino sexual minority men’s perspectives on assessment of sexual history in diverse healthcare settings. National LGBTQ Health Conference, Chicago, IL

Steen, J. T. (2022). The work experiences of social workers: Workplace stress, compassion satisfaction, and implications for the future of the profession. The Network for Social Work Management’s 2nd Annual Forward Thinking Summit, online.

Gibson, S., Tatarsky, A., & Steen, J. T. (2021). Antiracist addiction treatment requires decriminalization and harm reduction.History of the Racist War on Drugs and Proposed Policy Solutions. NASW New Jersey and Drug Policy Alliance, online.

Professional Affiliations and Memberships

2025–current: Associate Editor, Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions

2024–current: Faculty Affiliate. Simmons University, School of Social Work: Center for Innovation in Behavioral Health Education and Research (CIBER).

2024–current: Addictions Track Co-Chair. Council on Social Work Education, Annual Program Meeting.

2017–current: Affiliated Investigator. New York University, School of Global Public Health, Center of HIV Research.

2021–current: Review Board Member. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions.

2021–current: Peer Reviewer. Harm Reduction Journal, Families in Society, and Clinical Social Work Journal. 

2000–current: Member. National Association of Social Workers.
 

Awards

• 2024: Red Cross, Disaster Mental Health, 10 Years of Voluntary Service.
• 2024: Simmons University, Hazel Dick Leonard Faculty Fellowship.
• 2023-2024: American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, Academy Mentor Match Program.Dr. Diana DiNitto, University of Texas at Austin.