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Jodi J. Frey

Jodi J. Frey

Professor
Associate Dean for Research
Chair, Social Work in the Workplace & Employee Assistance Sub-specialization
Founder & Faculty Executive Director, Behavioral Health & Well-being Lab

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About

Jodi Jacobson Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP is a Full Professor with tenure and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. Dr. Frey chairs the Social Work in the Workplace & Employee Assistance Sub-specialization (formerly EAP Sub-specialization) is the Founder and Faculty Executive Director of the recently launched Behavioral Health and Well-Being Lab (BHWell Lab). Between 2011-2022, she chaired the Financial Social Work Initiative and remains active as a member of the Steering Committee. Her MSW and PhD degrees were earned from the University of Maryland. She is also co-Chair of the University of Maryland Mental Health and Addiction Health Disparities Think Tank at the School of Medicine.

Frey’s research focuses on workplace behavioral health, including the impact of employee mental health and well-being, and substance use on productivity and safety. She studies the effectiveness of employee assistance, work/life, and related programs for working-aged adults and families. She has dedicated a significant portion of her research and advocacy work to suicide prevention, mental health, substance use and recovery and the intersection with the workplace with attention to social determinants of health and well-being.

Frey co-chairs the Workplace Suicide Prevention and Postvention Committee where she is contributing as a leader in the development and dissemination of the National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention. She is past chair of EAPA’s Subcommittee on Workplace Disaster Preparedness and Response. In 2006, Dr. Frey was the recipient of the EAPA President’s Award for Excellence, recognizing her work on this committee. Prior to joining academia full-time, Dr. Frey provided workplace mental health and EAP services to NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, where she was recognized with several awards for her service to employees and family members. She continues to fuel her passion for workplace behavioral health and support for working families through her research, teaching and service to the social work profession.

Recent refereed articles have been published in JAMA, American Journal of Addictions, Social Work, Journal of Career Development, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Research on Social Work Practice, and Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. Dr. Frey regularly presents her research at national and international conferences. She is the Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health. Dr. Frey also co-founded the International Employee Assistance Digital Archive, housed at the University of Maryland, and which was awarded the Best Use of Technology in the Employee Assistance Field by the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) in 2019. Dr. Frey was recently awarded Educator of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers, Maryland.  

Frey resides in Maryland with her husband and two sons. She enjoys running and being with her family in free time.

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Expertise & Interests

  • Adult and Emerging Adult Behavioral Health
  • Workplace Behavioral Health and Well-Being
  • Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention
  • Opioid Use, Recovery and Broader Substance Use
  • Employee Assistance, Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being
  • Working Families
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Financial Capability and Asset Building
Education

MSW, PhD; University of Maryland, Baltimore

Recent Publications

Gilgoff, J. N., Park, E., Price, J., Scott, T., Moyd, T., Rouse, K., Knighton, G., Frey, J. J., Mattocks, N., Shook, E., Tuten, M., Unick, J., & Wagner, F. (2022). Building equitable community-academic partnerships for opioid recovery research: Lessons learned from stakeholder engagement with peer and provider organizations. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 15(1), doi: 10.54656/jces.v15i1.479  

Gilgoff, J. N., Wagner, F., Frey, J. J., Osteen, P. (2022). Help-seeking and Man Therapy: The impact of an online suicide intervention. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, doi: 10.1111/sltb.12929 

Frey, J. J., Osteen, P. J., Sharpe, T. L., Mosby, A. O., Joiner, T., Ahmedani, B., Iwamoto, D., Nam, B., Spencer-Thomas, S., Ko, J., Ware, O. D., Imboden, R., Cornette, M. M., & Gilgoff, J. N. (2022). Effectiveness of Man Therapy to reduce suicidal ideation and depression among working-age men: A randomized controlled trial. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, doi: 10.1111/stlb.12932. 

Huffman, M., Cloeren, M., Ware, O. D., Frey, J. J., Greenblatt, A. D., Mosby, A., Oliver, M., Imboden, R., Bazell, A., Clement, J., & Diaz-Abad, M. (2022). Poor sleep quality and other risk factors for unemployment among patients on opioid agonist treatment. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 16, doi:10.1177/11782218221098418 

Cagle, J., McPherson, M., Frey, J. J., Sacco, P., Ware, O., Hoffmann, D., & Guralnik, J. (2021). A national survey of challenges faced by hospices during the opioid crisis: Estimates of pain medication shortages, missing medications and opioids left in the home post-death. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, S0885-3924(21), 00212-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.02.023. 

Callahan, C., Frey, J. J., Imboden, R., & Hatcher, S. (2021). A financial social work certificate program for community and family practitioners. Families in Society, 1-8, doi: 10.1177/10443894211061098.  

Imboden, R., Frey, J. J., Bazell, A., Mosby, A., Ware, O. D., Mitchell, C. S., & Cloeren, M. (2021). Workplace support for employees in recovery from opioid use: Stakeholder perspectives. New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, published online, 1-10. DOI: 10.1177/1048291 1211043522. 

Osteen, P., Oehme, K., Morris, R. C., Arciniegas, J., Frey, J. J., Woods, M., & Forsman, R. L. (2021). Suicide intervention training with law enforcement officers. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, doi: 10.1111/sltb.12763. 

Ware, O., Frey, J. J., Cloeren, M., Mosby, A., Imboden, R., Bazell, A., Huffman, M., Hochheimer, M., Greenblatt, A. D., & Sherman, S. A. (2021). Examining employment and employment barriers among a sample of patients in medication-assisted treatment in the U.S. Addictive Disorders and their Treatment, 3-9. DOI:10.1097/ADT.0000000000000295 

Ware, O., Cagle, J. G., McPherson, M. L., Sacco, P., Frey, J. J., & Guralnik, J. (2020). Confirmed medication diversion in hospice care: Findings from a national sample of agencies. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.09.013  

Frey, J. J., (2020). Actively working to be more antiracist in the employee assistance field. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 35(2), 69-79. Available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15555240.2020.1785887 

Cagle J., McPherson, M. L., Frey, J. J., Sacco, P., Ware, O. D., Wiegand, D. L., & Guralnik, J. M. (2020). Estimates of medication diversion in hospice. Journal of the American Medical Association, 323(6), 566-568. DOI:10.1001/jama.2019.20388 

Ko, J., Frey, J. J., & Harrington, D. (2019). Preventing suicide among working-age adults: The correlates of help-seeking behavior. Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 56, 1-9. DOI: 10.1177/0046958019850979 

Sacco, P., Frey, J. J., Callahan, C., Hochheimer, M., Imboden, R., & Hyde, D. (2019). Feasibility of brief screening for at-risk gambling in consumer credit counseling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35(4), 1423-1439. DOI:10.1007/s10899-019-09836-1 

Frey, J. J., Pompe, D., Sharar, D. A., Imboden, R., & Bloom, L. (2018). Experiences of internal and hybrid employee assistance program managers: Factors associated with successful, at-risk, and eliminated programs. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 33, 1-23. DOI: 10.1080/15555240.2017.1416293