Deborah Kelsey Arias, Peer Support Specialist, M.S.W. (she/her)

Biography

In my role as Director of the Confidential Advocacy Program, I support victims/survivors of power-based violence from a lease-invasive-means and harm-reductionist mindset. This is done highly collaboratively with student support offices across OHSU, as well as OHSU academic programs across the state, to meet each student where they're at in the way they're hoping to be met. Learn more on the Confidential Advocacy Program's Sharepoint.

Other populations that I have provided specified crisis mental health support for are folks that utilize substances as a coping/survival skill, sex workers & adult entertainers, and folks experiencing a range of suicidality.

When not at my day job, adjunct teaching, or investing in my communities; you will find me on my couch cuddling my dogs, reading a book, or trying to figure out a new crochet pattern from a YouTube video.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • B.S., 2018, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
    • M.S.W., 2019, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Areas of interest

  • Restorative and Transformative Justice
  • Non-Carceral Crisis Response

Honors and awards

  • OHSU Student Affairs "Caring for the Whole Person" Award, 2024
  • Danger and Lethality Assessment Certified, 2019
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Social Work Student of the Year, 2018

Publications

Selected publications

  • Arias, K., Ramella, H., & Lopez, B. (2025). Economic implications of interpersonal violence: Analyzing the cyclical and lifetime costs of interpersonal violence. In The expanding continuum of gender-based violence (Vol. 1, Ch. 13).

Publications