Dr. Thema Bryant BioDr. Thema Bryant is the 2023 president of the American Psychological Association, the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology with more than120,000 members (apa.org).

 

Dr. Thema Bryant completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Duke University andher post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical Center’s Victims of Violence Program. Upongraduating, she became the Coordinator of the Princeton University SHARE Program,which provides intervention and prevention programming to combat sexual assault, sexualharassment, and harassment based on sexual orientation. She is currently a tenured professorof psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at PepperdineUniversity, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory. Her clinical andresearch interests center on interpersonal trauma and the societal trauma of oppression. Sheis a past president of the Society for the Psychology of Women anda past APArepresentative to the United Nations. Dr. Thema also served on the APA Committee onInternational Relations in Psychology and the Committee on Women in Psychology.

 

The American Psychological Association honored her for Distinguished Early CareerContributions to Psychology in the Public Interest in 2013. The Institute of Violence, Abuseand Trauma honored her with their media award for the film Psychology of HumanTrafficking in 2016 and the Institute honored her with the Donald Fridley Memorial Awardfor 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 Girlsof Color to Thrive. She is one of the foundational scholars on the topic of the trauma ofracism and in 2020, she gave an invited keynote address on the topic at APA. In 2020, theInternational Division of APA honored her for her International Contributions to the Studyof Gender and Women 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 office through community programming and media engagement, including but not limited to Headline News, National Public Radio, and CNN