THE ASSOCIATION OF BLACK PSYCHOLOGISTS congratulates the 2023 graduates in psychology.
Darryl Johnson (Cover Photo), like many other Black graduates in Psychology, knows both the challenges of graduate school while Black and the triumph of celebrating the graduation milestone.
Darryl is part of the 2023 cohort of Psychology graduates that are of African descent.
Black professionals in healthcare fields often focus their efforts on supporting Black communities, whether it’s through their areas of research or the services they provide.
Black/African Americans make up about 13.6% of the population in the United States. However, in 2017 only about 10% of students earning a degree in a Health Service Psychology field were Black (ABPsi, Black Mental Health Workforce Report). Further, Black/African Americans make up about 5% of the psychology workforce.
Given the hurdle of going and graduating from graduate school, we would like to celebrate some of the Black 2023 graduates!
AARON BETHEA
Doctoral Degree | Counseling Psychology | The University of Akron
Dissertation: Exploring the relationship between racial identity, optimal worldview, growth mindset, and academic achievement in African American male undergraduate students
Plan for the future: “Become a professor and a sports psychologist working with professional athletes.”
Damilola Daramola
Masters Degree | Clinical Psychology | Towson University, Maryland
Thesis: The Relationship Between Student-Parent Attachment Security and Ethnocultural Empathy among College Students
Plan for the future: I am interested in the cultural adaptations of evidence-based interventions for Black families.
Alexis Ambeau
Doctoral Degree | Counseling Psychology | Ball State University
Dissertation: Holistic Trauma-Informed Training in Counseling Psychology Doctoral Programs
Plan for the future: “To become a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist working within the VA”
Mawule Sevon
Doctoral Degree | School Psychology | Temple University
Dissertation: Empty Cups: A Mixed-Methods Study of Culturally Responsive Practices and Early Childhood Teacher Well-Being During a Pandemic
Plan for the future: “Engage in Advocacy work to disrupt racial disparities present in American schooling.”
JeVona Maniex
Doctoral Degree | Industrial Organizational Psychology | Grand Canyon University
Dissertation: Single Black Female Healthcare Workers Work-Family Conflict and Well-Being During COVID-19
Career interest area: Work team interaction, stress and coping of Black women on the job
Dinisha Mingo
Master’s Degree |Psychology | Fuller Seminary
Thesis: From Traditional Practice to Intentional Intervention: Combatting Mental Illness Among African American Youth in the Black Church
Plan for the future: To become a clinical psychologist and bridge mental health access within Black communities of faith.
Monique "Kiki"Lyons
Masters Degree Counseling Psychology California Institute of Integral Studies
Career focus
Treating ancestral trauma in postcolonial communities of color
Jessica Clemons
Specialist Degree Psychology Michigan State University
Plan for the future
“To be a Clinical Psychologist specializing in children.”
Joniesha Hickson
Doctoral Degree | Clinical Psychology | The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Dissertation: The Ujima Model: The Alchemy of Black American Activists
Career interest areas: Racial Trauma, Black Activist Identity Development, Black Liberation Psychology, Black Activism
Akorede Teriba
Doctoral Degree | Counseling Psychology | University of Iowa
Dissertation: Motivating Human Flourishing: An Ethnoracial Appraisal-Based Intervention on Growth Mindset
Career Goal: Tenured Faculty
Marc Albritton
Doctoral Degree |Psychology | Touro University Worldwide
Dissertation: Coping Mechanisms of Trauma and PTSD in Survivors of ACES
Career focus: Trauma and Neuroscience
Erika Graham
Doctoral Degree | Counseling Psychology | The University of Akron
Dissertation: Redefining my peace: Examining the relationship between positive racial attitudes and racial battle fatigue, and the moderating impact of culturally specific coping, among people of African descent
Career focus: Improving Black Positive Racial Identity and Providing Culturally Specific Psychological Services
The disparity between Black Americans wanting counseling or psychological services and the number of Black mental health professionals is a unique problem. Black Americans searching for healthcare services often seek out Black healthcare providers. According to one study by the Pew Foundation, almost one-third of Black adults say they would prefer to see a Black healthcare provider.
The legacy of racism in the medical field broadly, and psychiatry and psychology specifically, means that Black Americans that do seek care may end up with a healthcare professional that lacks the competencies and cultural humility needed to provide effective services. This makes the need for Black mental health professionals who are competent and grounded in their own Black/African identity critical.
France-Adine Neff Walker
Doctoral Degree | International Psychology | The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Dissertation: Haitian Immigrant Families View of Acculturation: An interpretive phenomenological Analysis
Plan for the future: “To expand my research on acculturation and its impact on immigrant families”
Pearis Jean
Doctoral Degree | Counseling | University of Florida
Dissertation: Responding: The SNAPS Decision-Making Model for Black Graduate Students and Early Career Professionals Facing Racism
Plan for the future: “After graduation, I will be an assistant professor of psychology at Towson University.”
TyKera Marrow
Doctoral Degree | Clinical Psychology | Jackson State University
Dissertation:
Just Be A Man About It: A sequential explanatory examination of men’s health and healthcare utilization
Career focus: Women’s health and maternal health, specifically for Black women
Leslie Beale
Doctoral Degree | Psychology | Walden University
Dissertation:
An Examination of Counselor Turnover and the Impact on quality of behavioral health services
Career Focus: Mental Health services that focus on health psychology and women’s health
Angela Quinn
Doctoral Degree | Clinical Psychology | Azusa Pacific University
Dissertation:
Expanding Autism Treatment through Social Robotics: Prospective Solutions in Clinical Therapy
Career focus: Industrial Organizational Psychology, Consulting, & Psychological Assessment
The Association of Black Psychologists extends congratulations and a welcome to the graduates of 2023. This inaugural celebration of Black graduates in psychology is our Sawubona. We see and love you and encourage you to keep making the ancestors proud.
You are needed, wanted, and loved, and we look forward to the contributions you will make to the world.
Coonima Kennedy
Masters Degree | Community Psychology | Florida A&M University
Thesis: Adverse childhood experiences and race-related stress predict mental health outcomes in African American college students
Career focus: Clinical and Community Psychology
Aigner Allen
Doctoral Degree | School Psychology | Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dissertation: School personnel attitudes and knowledge of mandated reporting
Plan for the future: “I want to open a private practice that gives minorities adequate therapeutic services.”
Christina Barnes-Matthews
Doctoral Degree | Clinical Psychology | Alliant International University, Los Angeles
Dissertation: Marijuana Use Among African Americans: A Potential Barrier to Treatment
Plan for the future: “Continuing to work with the African American community”
Resources for Students, Graduates, and Early Career Professionals
Check out these resources
Submit a synopsis of your research to The Psychdiscourse.
Upload your resume/CV to the ABPsi Career Center – a free resource for you.
ABPsi Black Wellness Directory
Update your member profile and “opt in” to the ABPsi Black Wellness Directory – a free resource for professional members (including Early Career Members).
Black Mental Health Workforce Report
Review resources on the Black Mental Health Workforce
