Megan Polanin

Dr. Megan Polanin is an assistant professor in the Counseling Psychology department, where she coordinates the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program at the Hilltop campus. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and a clinical supervisor at the Center for Community Counseling and Wellness (CCCW​), a clinic providing free to low-cost mental health services​ for the SF community while training social justice-oriented therapists. Dr. Polanin is dedicated to empowering caregivers of children with disabilities to imagine and create a more accessible and inclusive reality for all families.

• Clinical training & supervision
• School mental health & educator wellbeing
• Mental health advocacy
• Healing-centered (trauma-informed) practice

• Disability justice
• Inclusion and belonging
• Caregiver wellbeing
• Community advocacy

• Co-Chair, School of Education Faculty Association (2025-2026)
• SOE Representative, CRASE Advisory Board (2025-2026)

• Loyola University Chicago, PhD in Counseling Psychology, 2014
• Loyola University Chicago, MA in Community Counseling, 2009
• Butler University, BA in Psychology & Spanish, 2007

• Co-Director of Clinical Training, MedStar Georgetown WISE Center (2018-2024)
• Assistant Professor, Georgetown University School of Medicine (2018-2024)
• Senior Fellow, National Center for Health Research (2016-2018)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2015-2016)

• Vera, E., Polanin, J., Carr, A. & Polanin, M. (2017). Keeping Latina/o youth in school: Factors related to academic intentions of students at risk for school dropout. Journal of Latina/o Psychology.

• Vera, E., Camacho, D., Polanin, M., & Salgado, M. (2016). Education Interventions for Reducing Racism. In A. Alvarez, Liang, C., and H. Neville (Eds.), Contextualizing the cost of racism for people of color: Theory research and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

• Polanin, M. & Vera, E. (2013). Bullying prevention & social justice. Theory Into Practice Special Issue: Emerging Issues of School Bullying Research & Prevention Science, 52(4), 303-310.

• Vera, E. M. & Polanin, M. K. (2013). Prevention and counseling psychology: a simple yet difficult commitment. In E. M. Vera (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Prevention in Counseling Psychology (pp. 3-17). Oxford University Press: New York NY.