Leigh Norwood, LCSW, serves as the Executive Director of Mental Health and Trauma Support Services, which includes Center for Survivors, Counseling and Psychiatry Services (CAPS), and Employee Assistance Program.   

In this role, Leigh will provide strategic, programmatic, and operational oversight to the units responsible for providing mental health and trauma treatment services to students, faculty, and staff, including Center for Survivors, Counseling and Psychiatry Services (CAPS), and Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Leigh has over 20 years of experience as a licensed clinical social worker across diverse settings, including community mental health, managed care, and higher education. Her expertise includes providing individual and group therapy for students experiencing trauma symptoms, adjustment issues, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other debilitating disorders, as well as utilizing evidence-based interventions, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. 

Throughout her career, Leigh has actively contributed to advancing mental health support for students and increasing awareness  within campus communities about the interconnectedness of mental wellbeing with other dimensions of wellness. 

Leigh’s leadership philosophy is grounded in advancing higher education initiatives that focus on the delivery of competent and comprehensive health and wellbeing services through strategic planning, supervision of trainees, and consultation with campus partners. Her approach emphasizes multiculturalism and social justice within collegiate mental health. Central to Leigh’s commitment is the development and support of initiatives that prioritize health equity, particularly in regards the allocation of resources and provision of mental health services. 

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Leigh received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Minor in Cognitive Sciences from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She went on to receive a Master’s of Social Work in a joint degree program between The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University.