Dr. Thema Bryant is the 2023 president of the American
Psychological
ASSOCIRTION.
the leading scientific professional
organization
representing psychology with more than I members
(apa.org). Dr. Thema Bryant completed her doctoratc
Clinical Psychology at Duke
University andher
doctoral training at Harvard Medical Center's Victims of
Violence Frograms
Upon graduating, she became
the Coordinator of the Princeton University SHARE Program, which provides intervention and prevention programming to combat sexual assault, sexual harassment, and harassment based on sexual orientation. She is currently a tenured protessor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Rescarch Laboratory. Ter clinical and rescarch interests center on interpersonal trauma and the societal trauma of oppression. She is a past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women and a past APA representative to the United Nations.
Dr. Theme also served on the APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology and the Committee on Women in Psychology. The American Psychological Association honored her for Distinguished Larly arcer ontributions to Psychology in the Public Interest in 2013. The Institute of Violence, Abuse and Trauma honored her with their media award for the film Psychology of Human Trafficking in 2016 and the Institute honored her with the Donald Fridley Memorial Award for excellence in mentoring in the field of trauma in 2018. The California Psychological Association
honored her for Distinguished Scientific Achievement in Psychology in 2015. She is the editor of the APA text Multicultural Feminist Therapy: Helping Adolescent Girls of Color to Thrive She is one of the foundational scholars on the topic of the trauma ot racism and in 2020, she gave an invited keynote address on the topic at APA. In 2020, the International Division of APA honored
her tor her Internationa Contributions to the Study of Sender and
omen for her work in Africa and the DIaspora.
Dr. Thema has raised public awareness regarding mental health by extending the reach of psychology beyond the academy and private therapy ottice through community programming and media engagement, including but not limited to Headline News, National Public Radio, and CNN.
Having carned a Master of Divinity, Dr. Thema is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She directs the mental health ministry at First AME Church in South Los Angeles. Dr. Thema also utilizes sacred dance and spoken word in therapy, community forums, and faith communities. A member of the Association of Black Psychologists, she incorporates culturally based interventions in her teaching, research, and practice. Dr. Thema is the host of the Homecoming Podcast, a mental health podcast to racilitate your journey home to your authentic self.