Joy Bowman Lim is a social worker with over three decades of experience strengthening individuals, families, and communities, and supporting fellow professionals through relationship-based, trauma-informed practice. She has taught in the BSW and MSW programs at Eastern and other universities for the past five years, following prior roles as a school administrator and clinician. Her direct practice spans maternal and child health, home visiting, parenting education, domestic violence prevention and intervention, youth programming, sexual health education, and school-based mental health. She has also developed curricula and led professional development for an international trauma-informed care certification program, and her leadership experience extends into program development and non-profit fundraising.

As an educator and supervisor, Joy is committed to helping students build a sustainable, ethical social work practice grounded in relationship-based, trauma-informed care. Through reflective supervision, critical inquiry, and healing-centered engagement, she creates supportive spaces — in both group supervision and the classroom — where students can safely develop self-awareness, self-reflection, and the resilience to remain in the field while working with others with dignity. At the heart of this work is her belief that sustainable, ethical practice begins with how well practitioners learn to know and care for themselves. 

Beyond her academic work, Joy is actively engaged in her community and values time with family and close friends. Her spiritual home is a Mennonite congregation outside of Philadelphia. She is a parent, partner, and city gardener who enjoys hiking, camping, attending concerts, and exploring national parks. Joy is also a Reiki Master and continues to deepen her own relationship to somatic and embodied healing practices.