How can mental health professionals better serve diverse populations? Treniece Lewis Harris believes that in order to answer this question, a clinician must first uncover her own beliefs and assumptions.

“We were all raised with certain values, some we’re aware of and some we’re not,” she says. “Those inform the clinical lens.” Becoming aware of one’s own personal values as well as the patient’s values is what Harris calls the “beginning space” for a working relationship. “Some of those values will be congruent with us as clinicians, and some will be incongruent,” she says. Knowing this helps mental health professionals understand when they may need to ask questions. It can also be a jumping-off point for understanding unconscious and conscious bias.

This leads to the central question of clinical work: What response can clinicians give each person that will help them take the most functional step in their life?

Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and nationally recognized clinical educator, joins the Lynch School faculty this fall as associate professor of the practice and program director for the Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling program. She brings with her nearly 20 years of experience teaching at Harvard Medical School and an early interest in the mission of empowering mental health professionals to address multicultural issues in psychotherapy. She cites seminal psychologist Nancy Boyd-Franklin and Augustus Long Professor Janet Helms, who retired from Boston College in the spring of 2021, as major influences on her development as a clinician.

In addition to her clinical and educational work, Harris has chaired the Diversity Council for the Cambridge Health Alliance Department of Psychiatry, spearheading the development of its diversity curriculum for a multidisciplinary training program. This year, she founded CULTURA Psychotherapy & Consulting, LLC, where she provides both clinical services and organizational input, currently via telehealth. Referrals are through the roof, and Harris cites the pandemic as a leading cause of a new wave of mental health challenges that have created even greater need for psychotherapeutic support.

Harris expresses great enthusiasm about joining the faculty at Boston College. As a practicing Christian whose life bears deep roots in her faith and religious community, she is pleased to be joining an institution that shares an overarching spiritual ethic.