Toni Salas

Teaching Interests

• Quan & Qual Research Methods
• Death and Dying 
• Social Work Theory   

Research Interests

• Religious Intervention Development 
• Catholic Perceptions of Suffering
• Grief/Bereavement
• Catholic Social Issues
• Maternal Mental Health 
• Latine Student Success

Toni Salas, previously known as Toni Gallegos, is a PhD student at the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Social Work. She also received her MSW with a focus on Children and Family at UTA.

research specialization is in qualitative methods, more specifically, secondary analysis and primary phenomenological methodologies. She is an emerging Catholic faith-based researcher who focuses on suffering as a means of identity development, grief/bereavement, maternal mental health, religion and spirituality in social work, and Latine students in higher education. Through her placement as a school counselor at a Catholic school, she learned the importance of faith integration when working in the Catholic sphere. She aims to better inform social work practice on how to ethically engage religion and spirituality in practice. Likewise, she hopes to develop research that dismantles barriers for Catholics receiving mental health services.

As an educator, Toni is focused on building a love for research in emerging social workers She has positioned her teaching through a person-centered lens to facilitate a desire in students to view education as a crucial part of their lives. To do this, she allows students to take initiative in their learning content while acting as a guide through the process.