Marlaina H. Maddux, LCSW
Diné/Navajo and Irish-descent
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Position(s):
Graduate Research Assistant and Doctoral Student in Health Behavior Health Promotion, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Doctoral Scholar, Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance
Marlaina Maddux (Diné, Near the Water clan) is pursuing a PhD in Health Behavior Health Promotion in the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. She earned her MSW in Clinical Social Work at Florida International University, and BA in Sociology from North Carolina State University. She is a mental health therapist providing person-centered treatment for trauma, substance use, depression, and anxiety. As a researcher, her work addresses mental health disparities in light of historical trauma and systemic injustice. She is committed to working with Indigenous communities to ensure Indigenous data sovereignty in the development and promotion of healing-centered mental health resources.
Studying on the unceded traditional homelands of the Tohono O’odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
Current Project(s):
Marlaina’s dissertation research is focused on reframing Indigenous resilience as an empowered act of survivance and self-determination reliant on the promotion of culturally-centered protective factors.
Email: mmaddux@arizona.edu