Sonja Bohannon Thacker

Sonja Bohannon Thacker, MSW, LCSW

Cabarrus Health Alliance

Sonja Bohannon Thacker is a licensed clinical social worker with a distinguished career spanning over 25 years, specializing in the field of pregnancy and the post-partum period. Throughout her extensive career, Sonja has dedicated her expertise to serving High-Risk Maternity patients, offering invaluable consultation, integrated behavioral health care, and clinical mental health therapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups.

Over the last seven years, Sonja has directed her focus towards addressing the critical issues of trauma and substance use that profoundly affect women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. She played an instrumental role in the creation and implementation of the Substance Use Network Clinic (SUN), a comprehensive Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) clinic tailored to the specific needs of pregnant women and those in their first postpartum year.

Currently, Sonja holds the position of Director within the Behavioral Health Division at the Cabarrus Health Alliance. In this pivotal role, she shoulders the ongoing responsibilities of overseeing and managing the SUN clinic, as well as the expanded MAT clinic known as RISE, which extends its comprehensive services to non-pregnant women and men. Her supervisory duties also encompass the Live Well outpatient counseling center.

Sonja’s commitment to research, evaluation, and grant management is evident through her collaborations with esteemed institutions such as the UNC School of Government. She has played a vital role in the evaluation of the SUN clinic, offering her extensive expertise in program evaluation related to the integration of therapy and support through a post-partum mood and anxiety group. This innovative approach has been acknowledged as an emerging best practice by the Local Management Entity, Cardinal Innovations, and the Public Health National Center for Innovations.

Throughout her career, Sonja has successfully managed numerous grant projects with a wide array of funders, cultivating enduring and positive relationships with numerous community partners. Her long-standing association with the University of North Carolina-Charlotte has further enriched her ability to access a wealth of knowledge and data, thanks to her strong connections with faculty members across various departments, each bringing their own unique research interests and clinical practice expertise to the table. Sonja Bohannon Thacker’s tireless dedication to improving the lives of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period, her commitment to research, and her ability to forge critical partnerships make her an invaluable asset to the field of maternal and child health.