Dr. Adam R. West, Associate Professor of Child & Family Services
I’m Dr. Adam West. I have been at WKU since 2010, back when the Department of Applied Human Sciences was called the Department of Consumer and Family Sciences. I am currently the program coordinator of our Master of Science in Child and Family Studies graduate degree.
One of greatest enjoyments at WKU is learning along with students and making the connection from book knowledge to life experience. I try to emphasize an applied approach to learning in the courses I teach. That means we talk about challenging topics, learn, and apply concepts that might be unfamiliar, and go beyond the classroom and our textbooks. Often, in both our personal and professional lives, we are faced with tough or hard situations and decisions. Sometimes it may feel like it’s an impossible choice and there isn’t an answer or solution. The coursework in both our undergraduate and graduate programs will help you feel prepared and confident to address these tough situations.
I am a licensed Master Social Worker and a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) and have a variety of work and volunteer experiences that often crop up during class discussion. If you are interested in working with children and families in either clinical or non-clinical settings, such as individual or group counselors or therapists, case workers, community mental health liaisons, family life educators, or youth services coordinators, please come talk with me or any of our wonderful faculty in Child and Family Services!
If you want to know more about graduate school and if it is something that you might want to consider, please send me an email and we can talk about your options. Or if you just have life questions and don’t know who else to ask, I can help there too!
You can locate the course descriptions by searching here.
- FACS 310 Management of Family Resources
- FACS 311 Family Relations
- FACS 410 Internship
- FACS 422 Adolescent Psychology
- FACS 495 Family and Relationship Violence
- FACS 499 Family Policy Analysis
- FACS 550 Youth and Family Theory and Research
- FACS 580 Capstone in Child & Family Studies
I am interested in a variety of research topics related to relationships and families. My experience is primarily with (1) the development of dating relationships and (2) family relationships in families that have individuals which a chronic illness. Since coming to WKU, I have partnered with Dr. Darbi on several research projects, presentations, and publications. Here are some of the topics that I have experience with or am interested in:
- Development and maintenance of romantic unions
- Commitment in premarital and early marital relationships
- Development and evaluation of romantic relationship education programs
- Parenting and parent-child relationships in the context of chronic illnesses (particularly Multiple Sclerosis)
- Romantic relationship processes in families with Multiple Sclerosis
Ph.D. Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 2013
M.S. Master of Science in Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, 2004
B.S. Marriage, Family, and Human Development, Brigham Young University, 2002
Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE), National Council on Family Relations, since 2007
Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW), Texas Board of Social Work Examiners, since 2004
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