Michael Ungar, Ph.D. is both a Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist with experience working directly with youth and families in child welfare, mental health, educational and correctional settings.  He now holds the dual position of University Research Professor and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University. He has conducted workshops internationally for parents, caregivers, and professionals on resilience-related themes relevant to the treatment and study of at-risk youth and families.

He is the author of eight books including: Counseling in Challenging Contexts (forthcoming, February 2010); We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids; Strengths-based Counseling with At-risk Youth; and the Handbook for Working with Children and Youth: Pathways to Resilience Across Cultures and Contexts. Michael leads several studies of resilience that include researchers from more than a dozen countries on five continents. In addition to his research and teaching, he also maintains a family therapy practice in association with Phoenix Youth Programs, a prevention program for street youth and their families, and since 2002 has sat on the Board of Examiners for the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers. He lives in Halifax, Canada, with his partner and their two teenaged children. 

He has been an AFTA member since 2007.