Karen Skerrett, PhD, RN
Visiting Professor
Email: kskerrett@ameritech.net

Dr. Karen Skerrett is a visiting professor in Psychiatric Nursing for the Master’s Program. She received her BSN from DePauw University, MS in Psychiatric Nursing from St. Xavier University and an MA and PhD. in Human Development and Psychology from the University of Chicago. She holds licenses in both Nursing and Clinical Psychology.

She has formerly taught at the University of Illinois College of Nursing, the Family Institute at Northwestern University and has maintained a private practice of marital and family therapy for the past 28 years. She consults widely in both healthcare and business settings.

Dr. Skerrett is currently on the faculty at the Chicago Center for Family Health at the University of Chicago where she teaches in the areas of gender development, couple and family resilience, life cycle transitions and coordinates the advanced practicum program in Families, Systems and Health. Her research interests include strategies of relationship enhancement, cultivation of resilience in families and organizations, the impact of chronic illness and disability on couples and families, and the development of meaning systems in individuals and couples as an aspect of positive health maintenance.