Thema Bryant

Dr. Thema Bryant is a psychologist, author, professor, sacred artist, and minister who is leading the way in creating healthy relationships, healing traumas, and overcoming stress and oppression. Dr. Bryant is the author of "Homecoming," which paints a road map for dismantling fear and shame to live a free and authentic life, "The Antiracism Handbook: Practical Tools to Shift Your Mindset and Uproot Racism in Your Life and Community," and "Reclaim Yourself: The Homecoming Workbook." Expanding her work, Dr. Bryant partnered with Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop on the Audible Original "The goop Pursuit: Coming Home to Yourself," a four-part audio series taking listeners on an intimate journey of learning and unlearning. Dr. Bryant also hosts "The Homecoming Podcast," which is dedicated to helping listeners reconnect with themselves and heal from past wounds. In her newest book "Matters of the Heart", she empowers readers to connect with themselves and to others, delving into topics such as: control issues, emotional unavailability, practical activation activities, case studies, and teaching how to shift mindset and patterns around romance.

Dr. Bryant completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Duke University and her post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical Center’s Victims of Violence Program. 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 professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University, where she directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory. Her clinical and research interests center on interpersonal trauma and the societal trauma of oppression. Most recently, she was the 2023 president of the American Psychological Association (APA), the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology with more than 150,000 members. She is a former president of the Society for the Psychology of Women and a former APA representative to the United Nations. Dr. Bryant also served on the APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology and the Committee on Women in Psychology.

Her notable accolades include a 2013 APA award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest. In 2016, the Institute of Violence, Abuse, and Trauma presented her with their media award for the film "Psychology of Human Trafficking," and in 2018, she received their Donald Fridley Memorial Award for excellence in mentoring in trauma. The California Psychological Association recognized 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" and is a foundational scholar on the topic of the trauma of racism. In 2022, the International Division of the APA honored her for her International Contributions to the Study of Gender and Women, recognizing her work in Africa and the Diaspora. Dr. Bryant is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and leads the mental health ministry at First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles. Most recently in 2023, she received the Silverman Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Justice in Psychology.

Dr. Bryant 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, CBS, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and CNN.