Janet Helms, Ph.D.

Janet Helms, Ph.D.

Janet E. Helms is the Augustus Long Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and Director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College. She is 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 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. 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.