Manasi Shankar

Dr. Shankar immigrated to the United States in 2014 to pursue her dream of expanding her knowledge related to working with underserved, underrepresented, and marginalized communities. As a child of a disabled parent, her clinical and research interests are closely tied to family systemic perspectives of disability. She also served as a speaker at the American Association for Family Therapy's systemic conference where she introduced her ideas of incorporating stronger disability dialogue into the field of MFT.

Currently, she works as a clinician and an instructor at USF, designing highly experiential learning environments for her students. When she is not teaching, researching, or engaging in clinical work, you will find her experimenting with new recipes and feeding her friends and family!

• Disability sciences
• Marriage and family therapy
• Clinical supervision
• Issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Amplifying disability discourses within the field of marriage and family therapy
• Application of resilience frameworks to the study of disability experiences
• Increasing accessibility to therapy for disabled people and communities

• Ad-Hoc Reviewer, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
• Scholarship Board Representative, Virginia Tech
• Departmental Delegate, HDFS Graduate Student Assembly
• Undergraduate Mentor, Clinical Placement Program, Virginia Tech
• Writer & Editor, The New Indian Express

• Virginia Tech, Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science (MFT Specialization), 2021
• Syracuse University, MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, 2016
• Martin Luther Christian University, PG Diploma in Counseling psychology, 2014
• Christ University, BA in Psychology Honors, 2013

• Licensed Professional Counselor, Chicago Center for Family Health
• Psychotherapist, Virginia Tech
• Instructor of Record in Human Development and Family Science courses, Virginia Tech
• Instructor of Record in Life Sciences, Upward Bound Program
• Psychotherapist, Liberty Resources, Syracuse NY

• Hulick Scholarship for Leadership, Friendship, and Service, 2019

• Chi Sigma Iota, International Merit-Based Honor Society for Professional Counselors, 2015

• Dr. Komelski, Manasi Shankar, Dr. Katherine Allen (Under journal review) College Student Perceptions of a Mindfulness-Based Curriculum

• Dr. Pamela Teaster & Dr. Manasi Shankar (Submitted) Older Adult Treatment and Vaccination During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

• Dr. Pamela Teaster & Manasi Shankar (In Preparation), Research and Live Theatre as Applied to the Transition of older Adults in Care Facilities