Sally Schwer Canning Ph.D.
Sally Schwer Canning, Associate Professor of Psychology, is a member of the doctoral faculty at Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL) and a Behavioral Health Consultant at the Lawndale Christian Health Center (Chicago, IL). A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Canning received her Ph.D. in 1994 from the University of Pennsylvania. Specializing in practice with children and families in urban, poor contexts, she has practiced for over 20 years in a variety of community settings including schools, out-patient clinics and in primary care.
As a consultant, Dr. Canning works to further the missions of faith-based community organizations serving poor urban neighborhoods through health-care and educational initiatives. She desires to see those serving on the front lines in underserved contexts flourish in their work and lives. As an instructor and trainer, Dr. Canning seeks to encourage students’ faithfulness to God’s purposes for them in His Kingdom, and to help prepare the next generation of Christian psychologists for competent practice with underserved populations.
Recent areas of focus for her scholarship include: (1) improving the identification and treatment of pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders in low-income Latino and African American women, (2) critically examining the notion of self-care for helping professionals, and (3) imagining implications of Christian notions of justice and hospitality for contemporary healthcare practice.
Articles published by Dr. Canning may be found in Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, The Community Psychologist, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Health and Development, Journal of Psychology and Theology, and the Journal of Psychology and Christianity.
Dr. Canning serves on the board of the Christian Community Health Fellowship, a nationwide network of health providers, administrators, teachers and students who are involved in providing health care to underserved communities, both rural and urban. She and her family worship on the west side of Chicago in a church devoted to seeing the good news of the gospel transform lives and break down walls of racial and socio-economic divisions.