Keynote Speaker – Dr. Thomas Parham
Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D. is Assistant Vice Chancellor for Counseling and Health Services and Director of the Counseling Center, as well as an adjunct faculty member, at the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Parham received his Bachelor’s degree in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine. He completed his Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is licensed to practice psychology in the state of California.
Dr. Parham is a Past President of the national Association of Black Psychologists. He is also a member of the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association. He is Past President of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (a division of ACA). He is also a member of the Orange County Chapter of the 100 Black Men, where he has served as Chair of the Education Committee. He is the architect of the “Rites of Passage” program for the 100’s “Passport to the Future” program and for the Los Angeles based “College Bound” program.
For the past twenty years, Dr. Parham has focused his research efforts in the area of psychological nigrescence and has authored many articles in the area. Research in the area of racial identity development remains his primary focus. He is the co-author of the 2nd and 3rd editions of a book entitled The Psychology of Blacks: An African Centered Perspective (Prentice Hall) and the author of a book entitled Psychological Storms: The African American Struggle for Identity (African American Images, 1993.) He is also the author of a book entitled Counseling Persons of African Descent (2002). He has also produced several videotapes on the topics of counseling African American clients and youth and violence which are available through Microtraining Associates, Inc. of North Amherst, MA.
Among his many honors and awards are included his selection as an American Psychological Association Minority Fellow in 1979 through 1982; the 1988 Research/Scholarship Award from the national Association of Black Psychologists; 1989 Research Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program; election to Fellow status of Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) and Division 45 (Society for Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) of the American Psychological Association; and his election to the status of ‘Distinguished Psychologist’ by the Association of Black Psychologists in 1998.