Introduction
Dr. French joined the University of St. Thomas in 2014. She graduated from the University of Illinois' Counseling Psychology PhD program and completed an American Psychological Association (APA) accredited pre-doctoral internship at the University of Maryland Counseling and Psychological Services Center. From there, she worked as an APA MFP Policy Fellow for SAMHSA and began her teaching career at the University of Missouri before moving back to her hometown, Minneapolis.
Her research, teaching, and community engagement focuses on racial and sexual trauma and recovery, specifically among Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Her recent first authored article from the Psychology of Radical Healing Collective, "Toward a psychological framework for radical healing in Communities of Color" published in The Counseling Psychologist (2020) is ranked in the top 5% on Altmetrics publication data and her research on men's sexual victimization has been featured in several news outlets including Time, US News, and Huffington Post.
Her training interests focus on multicultural liberatory counseling development and social justice pedagogy. She also has a private practice, offering psychotherapy for adults, specializing in racial and sexual trauma recovery. Dr. French has held multiple leadership roles in APA and she has been recognized with awards throughout her career, including the APA Minority Fellowship Program, APA Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology, APA Divisions 17, 35, and 45, the Minnesota Psychological Association, and the Minnesota chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists.