Counseling Psychology PhD Student

• Tatyana Smith, M.A., is a fifth-year doctoral student, Interdisciplinarity Minority Fellow, and King Chavez Parks Fellow in the counseling psychology department at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI.
• Originally from Jacksonville, FL; oldest of four children (first-generation college student); mother and father are an accountant and construction worker, respectively.
• Obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is a proud graduate of the historically Black university, Xavier University of Louisiana. She obtained her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Western Michigan University.
• Provided individual therapy, group therapy, and outreach programming to adolescents, college students, and community members from diverse racial-ethnic and cultural backgrounds at two college counseling centers and two Black woman-owned psychotherapy practices.
• Clinical interests include racial trauma, depression, anxiety, familial/interpersonal relationships, culturally relevant forms of healing, and race-focused social justice. Tatyana is the panel moderator for the podcast series, What Therapists Need to Know.
• Regarding research, Tatyana’s dissertation focuses on the ways in which masculinity shapes the romantic experiences of Black men with histories of childhood sexual abuse. She is excited to present her research at the upcoming 8th hybrid Black Mental Health Symposium (BMHS) in Jacksonville, FL.
• Tatyana currently serves as the graduate editorial assistant for the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. She also has experience teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels of higher education.
• As a doctoral student, Tatyana currently serves as the Vice President of the Black Graduate Student Association and member of the Pro-Black Collective Committee of the Registered Counseling Psychology Student Organization.
• Tatyana is passionate about education, research, practice, and social policy concerning the lived experiences of Black/African Americans.