Making Race and Culture Matter
Making Race and Culture Mean More Than Checked Boxes
About
Janet E. Helms, Ph.D. is the Augustus Long Professor Emeritus and past Director and Founder of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College (ISPR) where for 20 years, she hosted the annual Diversity Challenge, an international conference examining critical racial and cultural issues in society. She is a past President of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the American Psychological Association [APA]). Dr. Helms is a Fellow in Division 17 (Counseling Psychology), Division 45 (Ethnic Diversity), and Division 35 (Psychology of Women) of the APA. In addition, she is a member of the American Psychological Society and the American Educational Research Association.
Dr. Helms, renowned for her expertise in resisting racism in theory, practice, and assessment, has served on the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties, the Joint Committee on Testing Practices, and the APA Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment, and she provided expert testimony to the Supreme Court in the case of Ricci v DeStefano. Her service on editorial boards includes the Psychological Assessment Journal and the Journal of Counseling Psychology.
She has written over seventy empirical and theoretical articles and books on the topics of racial identity and cultural influences on assessment and counseling practice. She is the author of “A Race Is A Nice Thing to Have,” to date the only self-help book for Whites who want to overcome their own racism. She has been interviewed by a variety of media sources including CNN, the APA Monitor, and GHB local news. Presently, she provides psychological consulting, workshops, and training in applications of racial identity theory.
Dr. Helms, renowned for her expertise in resisting racism in theory, practice, and assessment, has served on the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties, the Joint Committee on Testing Practices, and the APA Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment, and she provided expert testimony to the Supreme Court in the case of Ricci v DeStefano. Her service on editorial boards includes the Psychological Assessment Journal and the Journal of Counseling Psychology.
She has written over seventy empirical and theoretical articles and books on the topics of racial identity and cultural influences on assessment and counseling practice. She is the author of “A Race Is A Nice Thing to Have,” to date the only self-help book for Whites who want to overcome their own racism. She has been interviewed by a variety of media sources including CNN, the APA Monitor, and GHB local news. Presently, she provides psychological consulting, workshops, and training in applications of racial identity theory.
WORKSHOPS
Past Workshop Topics:
- Anti-Racist Research Considerations in Psychological Research Methodology
- Exploring the Role of Context in Racially Responsive Supervision
- Fair Use of Standardized Tests to Assess People of Color
- Race and Culture in Therapist Training and Supervision
- Why Won’t Racism End? White Men Like It Too Much!
- Racial Identity in Everyday Life
- Racial Identity and Racial Trauma
- White Racial Identity and Health Care Providers: Implications for Racial Health Disparities
Offices
Dr. Helms was President of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the American Psychological Association [APA]). Dr. Helms is a Fellow in Division 17 (Counseling Psychology), Division 45 (Ethnic Diversity), and Division 35 (Psychology of Women) of the APA. She has served on the Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Subspecialties. In addition, she is a member of the American Psychological Society and the American Educational Research Association.
Assessment
Dr. Helms was a co-chair of the Joint Committee on Testing Practices and served on the APA Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment. She provided expert testimony to the Supreme Court in the case of Ricci v DeStefano. She has published several of the most cited articles on cultural and racial bias in testing.
Editorial
Boards
Her service on editorial boards includes the Psychological Assessment Journal, the Journal of Counseling Psychology, and the American Psychologist. She has published over 100 empirical and theoretical articles and books on the topics of racial and cultural influences on assessment and counseling practice.
Awards
Dr. Helms was the recipient of the 2017-2018 Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award from the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17, of the American Psychological Association), the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from APA's Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, and the APA/APF Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Public Interest. Additionally, she delivered the American Psychological Foundation's 2019 Arthur W. Staats Lecture on Unifying Psychology.
Speeches
and Media
Dr. Helms is well known for her ability to discuss difficult racial issues with humor and compassion. She has given many presentations on the topics of race, racism, and culture in psychotherapy and supervision, mental health, and research methodology. She has been interviewed by CNN, GBH News, Boston College Update, Teaching While White, and APA Monitor.
third edition
a race is a nice thing
to have
A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life is designed to help White people fully recognize and accept their racial identity, assume the proper responsibility for ending racism, and develop an understanding of how racism impacts their own racial group.
