Richard Takashi Hara

Dr. Hara’s work has focused on support for cancer patients, their caregivers, and those bereaved by cancer.

Dr. Richard Hara is a Lecturer at the Columbia School of Social Work, where he teaches courses on direct practice, clinical practice evaluation, and health care policy. He previously served as a clinical social worker at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and as Director of Online Services at CancerCare, in which role he managed a national program of online support groups serving the needs of cancer patients and caregivers.

Dr. Hara has presented on cultural competence in oncology social work, end-of-life and bereavement counseling, and the use of online communication with clients in a clinical context. He co-authored a guide for cancer caregiving, and has published articles on cancer survivorship, domestic violence screening, and intervention issues in the oncology population. He contributed a chapter on bereavement groups to the Handbook of Oncology Social Work (Oxford University Press, 2015). He has been the principal investigator for an institutional training grant from the American Cancer Society for second year MSW students in clinical oncology social work.