Dr. Rondalyn Varney Whitney

Rondalyn Whitney is an associate professor in the Division of Human Performance at West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine.  She earned her doctorate in International Health Science from Trident University. Her scholarship focuses on the use of narrative (journal writing, structured interviews, health narratives) as a mechanism to reduce stress and improve mother-child co-regulation. She has received national recognition for her lifelong service to families and children including induction into the Roster of Fellows for the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the Virginia Scardina award from the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF). She has a distinguished career as an academic, a presenter and author and she is the current Chair of the Developmental Disabilities Special Interest Section for AOTA. She received an Advanced Certificate in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, has authored 7 books, is widely published in the profession of occupational therapy and her poetry has appeared in several journals.  She believes in the power of occupational engagement as a path to wellbeing and can be seen in her community blowing bubbles with neighborhood children, creating afterschool STEAM programs and sitting on her porch with her journal among the maple trees in Appalachia.