Martha Robbins

Joan Marshall Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Director of Pneuma: Spiritual Direction and Leadership Program
Year Started at PTS: 1986

Contact Info

mrobbins@pts.edu
412-924-1423

Education

• Th.D., Harvard University / Practical Theology, 1988 
• M.A., St. Louis University / Pastoral Theology, 1974
• B.A., Maryville University / English & Social Sciences, 1969

Bio

Martha Robbins holds the Joan Marshall Chair of Pastoral Care, a position that relates theological, spiritual, psychological, cultural, and ethical insights to the practice of pastoral care. She also is the director of the Pneuma Program that offers educational and supervised training of clergy and laity for the ministry of spiritual direction and leadership initiated Fall 2009. In addition to obtaining her professional license as a clinical psychologist, Robbins is a graduate of Maryville University (B.A.), St. Louis University (M.A.), and Harvard University (Th.D.) Prior to coming to PTS, Robbins held various positions as dean of students of an all-girls high school, director of campus ministry and The Human Development Program at Maryville University, and full-time spiritual mentor and retreat director at the Jesuit Spirituality Center. She remains active in facilitating retreats and workshops on various topics of Christian spirituality, spiritual formation, the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, pastoral care, and psychology and has lectured in Israel, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada as well as the United States. As a licensed psychologist, Robbins has worked in a number of counseling settings including The Cambridge Hospital at Harvard Medical School and the Family Centre in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. She co-founded the Pittsburgh Consortium on Faith and Health, the Spirituality and Psychology Program (an APA approved program for granting continuing education credits for psychologists and other mental health providers) and the Certificate Program in Spiritual Formation within the Continuing Education Department, all for which she remains an advisor and a frequent instructor. She is the author of published poems, numerous articles, book chapters, and a book, Midlife Women and Death of Mother: A Study of Psychohistorical and Spiritual Transformation. She authored and created a series of professional CDs, Guided Meditations on Sacred Scripture, for assisting people in praying with the Bible. She is currently working on a book, On the Road Again: Transforming Faith in Times of Transition exploring biblical, theological, spiritual, and psychological insights into the journey of faith precipitated by experiences of loss and transition. She and her husband, Walter Bowman, make their home in Oakmont, Pa. Their son, Christopher, lives with his wife, Cindy and two daughters, Lexi and Brooke Anna, in Southern California.

Church Association

Local Church Membership: Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, PA

Professional Competencies

Licenses/Certifications: Pennsylvania licensed clinical psychologist

Areas of Specialty

• Christian spirituality
• Ignatian Spiritual Exercises
• Pastoral care
•  Psychology

Professional Service

Board Service

• Emeritus Board Member of Champlain University, Burlington, VT
• Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute

Leadership for Professional Societies

• Co-founder, Pittsburgh Consortium on Faith and Health
• Co-founder, Spirituality and Psychology Program (APA approved)
• American Academy of Religion Steering Committee on Religion, Person, Culture Section

Awards/Fellowships/Distinctions

• Alpha Sigma Nu (Jesuit Honor Society)
• First woman to be installed in an endowed faculty chair at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Additional Resources

Publications
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Pneuma: Spiritual Direction and Leadership Program at PTS
Personal Website * 

* The material contained in Dr. Robbins website does not necessarily express the opinion of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary faculty, staff, or Board of Directors.