Vera Grebenc, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Vera Grebenc, Ph.D., Assistant Professor

Vera Grebenc, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor

Vera Grebenc is a project assistant of the institute. She works as a researcher and university teacher (assistant professor) at the Faculty of Social Work. At the Chair of Community Mental Health she is involved in the development and research of concepts, approaches and methods in the field of mental health, focusing particularly on different forms of assistance for the mentally diseased individuals in their domestic environment and communities. Ms. Grebenc is specialized in qualitative and ethnographic research of the ordinary lives of individuals as well as social groups with the objective of understanding everyday practice and experience of people and including such knowledge in social work plans. More than anything else Ms.Grebenc is active in the areas of drug use and addiction, mental health and community. She used to be and still remains to be active in numerous national and international research groups and is also involved in many projects, panel discussions, seminars etc., for example: PROMISE (Promotion of Mental Health Minimising Mental Illness: Integrating through Education), EMDAS (A European Masters in Drug and Alcohol Studies), South Eastern European Adriatic Addiction Treatment Network – SEEA NET. Since 2009 she has been Assistant Director of the School of Social Work Theory and Practice programme at the inter-university centre in Dubrovnik (Inter University Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Dubrovnik). Within the framework of this programme she is in charge of the organisational duties of the symposium Developing Neighbourhood and Community Support Systems. She is also a member of various expert and scientific bodies, such as the expanded professional board of social work in health care and she is one of the members of the project board Ljubljana – a healthy city and National coordination group for the preparation of national implementation plans under the responsibility of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. Vera Grebenc is the author of many articles and a co-author of the book titled 'Droge med politiko in vsakdanjim življenjem' (Drugs amongst politics and everyday life). She was a project promoter or a co-worker involved in different international and national research projects. In the framework of the international project PEER -- education project for young drivers to prevent alcohol and drugs in connection with road use – Drive Clean! she was preparing materials, organising workshops, attending several international seminars and developed guidelines for workshops concerning the reduction of drug and alcohol related harm in transport. The project was recognized as an example of good practice and is now included in the database of the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction (EMCDDA).

One of her research fields included the use of cannabis in Slovenia with which she came across while responding to the problems of drug use among youth, drug policy-making and at the level of social work development and concepts of reducing drug related harm. In the context of the 5th congress of social work she coordinated the panel session on the national program proposal about psychoactive substances. This cooperation with the institute having to do with cannabis and involving the social topic is project-based.

Vera Grebenc concluded her undergraduate study at the Faculty of Social Work in Ljubljana. She continued her postgraduate study at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana where she was awarded the title Master of Science and went on with a successful presentation of her doctoral dissertation in 2006 at the Faculty of Social Work.