Faculty Directory
Treniece Lewis Harris
Program Director, Mental Health Counseling, M.A.
Associate Professor of the Practice
Treniece Lewis Harris
Ph.D.
Contact
Campion 318
Telephone: 617-552-3811
Email: treniece.lewisharris@bc.edu
Education
- Ph.D., Howard University
- B.A., Hampton University
Courses
Multicultural Issues
Theories of Counseling & Personality II
Research Interests
Cultural identity development in children and adolescents; Multicultural mental health provision across the lifespan;Â Intersectionality in the therapeutic process; Multidisciplinary cultural diversity curriculum development; Social Determinants of Mental Health; Â Spirituality and psychotherapy
Expertise
- Equity and Social Justice
- Health and Well Being
- Social & Emotional Development
Dr. Lewis Harris is not currently accepting Ph.D. students.
Department
Profile
Dr. Treniece Lewis Harris is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in child/adolescent psychology and multicultural mental health. As a scholar and clinical educator, Dr. Harris has spent the past 20 years learning and educating others how to provide therapeutic services that value the person, their cultural background and that take into account social determinants of mental health. She consults to community, academic, health and organizational executives on multicultural mental health care provision, multidisciplinary collaborative care, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum development. Her scholarly work can be found in several publications including Academic Psychiatry, Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Adolescent Health, JAMA Psychiatry and Sucide & Life-Threatening Behavior.Â
As an Associate Professor of the Practice in the Lynch School Mental Health Counseling Program, she brings a wealth of experience providing psychotherapy in public health settings. She has also been in private practice providing psychotherapy to children, adolescents, adults, couples and families from all walks of life. She uses this experience base coupled with her expertise in child and multicultural mental health to teach her students and advisees about the “real world” of mental health care for people from diverse life experiences.Â
When she is not at Boston College, Dr. Harris is in her private practice, CULTURA Psychotherapy & Consulting, LLC. Using her CULTURAscope Model of Health & Advancement, she integrates developmental, multicultural, psychodynamic and evidenced-based behavioral therapies to develop a personalized, holistic biopsychosociocultural treatment plan for each client. She provides integrative care consultation to primary care physicians, school personnel, psychopharmacologists and religious leaders. She is often sought out to provide community wellness workshops on multicultural mental health issues, parenting and child development, as well as racism-related chronic stress. Her consultation services also include DEI corporate development, life coaching for early career mental health professionals and faith leaders mental health training.
Select Publications
Recent Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
- Alegria, M., Nakash, O., Johnson, K., Ault-Brutus, A., Carson, N., Fillbrunn, M., Wang, Y., Cheng, A., Harris, T.L., Polo, A., Lincoln, A., Freeman, E., Bostdorf, B., Rosenbaum, M., Epelbaum, C., LaRoche, M., Okpokwasili-Johnson, E., Carrasco, M., Shrout, P. (2018). Effectiveness of the DECIDE Interventions on Shared Decision Making and Perceived Quality of Care in Behavioral Health With Multicultural Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Â JAMA Psychiatry. 75(4), 325-335.
- Harris, T. L. (2012). Using Cultural Formulations to Enhance Adolescent Assessment and Psychotherapy. Adolescent Psychiatry. 2, (3), 243-252.
- Harris, T.L., McQuery, J., Elmore, S. & Raab, B. (2008). Multicultural psychiatric education:Â Using the DSM-IV-TR Outline for Cultural Formulation to improve resident cultural competence. Academic Psychiatry. 32(4), 306-312.
- Holder, D.W., Durant, R.H., Harris, T.L. Daniel, J.H., Obeidallah, D. & Goodman, E. (2000). The association between adolescent spirituality and voluntary sexual activity. Journal of Adolescent Health. 26(4), 295-302.
- Harris, T.L. & Molock, S.D. (2000). Suicidal ideation among African American College Students: An investigation of cultural orientation, family cohesion and perceived family support. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 30(4), 341-353.
Recent Invited Presentations
- Harris, T.L. (2020). Power, Perspective and Humility: Re-Examining Diversity in Mental Health Care. Course Director and Keynote address for the Diversity in Mental Health continuing education conference of the Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA.Â
- Harris, T.L. (2019). A Supervisor’s Guide to Using a Multicultural Orientation. Supervisors’ workshop given for interdisciplinary supervisors at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry
- Harris, T.L. (2018). Examining Multicultural Values, Stigma & Privilege in Clinical Care Workshop for the Addiction Treatment Center of New England, Inc, Brighton, MA.2017 Contextual Considerations in Homicide Bereavement, address given at the Center for Homicide Bereavement & Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA
- Harris, T.L. (2017). Contextual Considerations in Homicide Bereavement. Talk given at The Center for Homicide Bereavement Institute: “The Aftermath of Violent Death”, Sponsor: Cambridge Health Alliance & Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA
- Harris, T.L. (2015). Multicultural Psychotherapy Supervision: Â A Rearview Look with Forward-Thinking Vision. Symposium: National Multicultural Conference and Summit, Atlanta, GA
- Harris, T.L. (2014)/ Adapting Relationship-Centered Communication Skills to Enhance Patient-Provider Communication in the Digital Age. Workshop (with Ayers, C., Boissy, A., Chisolm, M., Keirns, C., Lee, W., Reidy, J., Simoyan, O., Wald, H.), 20th Anniversary of the Harvard Macy Institute, Boston, MA. Sponsor: The Gold Foundation.
- Harris, T.L. (2013). Culturally-Sensitive Child Mental Health Evaluation in a “Safety-Net” Hospital Setting. Structured Discussion (with Latham, P., Barrett, J., Carson, n., & Walker, S.). Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC) Diversity Conference, Boston, MA. Â
- Harris, T.L. (2011). Using Cultural Formulations to Enhance Child Psychiatry Treatment. Lecture given at the Child Division Symposium: “The Impact of Family Culture and Ethnic Background in the Delivery of Child/Adolescent and Family Based Mental Health Services” Sponsor: Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA.
- Harris, T.L. (2010). Out of Sight, But Not Out of Mind: A Bio-Psycho-Social-Cultural Approach to Treating Children in Underserved Populations. Lecture given at the Cambridge Series Conference: Child Psychotherapy. Sponsor: Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA.
- Harris, T.L. (2007). Therapy at the Crossroads of Cultural Identity and Oppression: Empowering Women of Color in the Therapeutic Relationship. Symposium: Negotiating Women’s Identities: Implications of Feminist Perspectives for Clinical Practice and Research, National Multicultural Conference and Summit, Seattle, WA. Â
- Harris, T.L. (2007). Cultural Competence Skill Building for Psychology Interns: Designing plans to meet the challenge. Workshop 2007 Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers Conference, Defining & Building Skills in Psychology Training, Seattle, WA. Â
- Harris, T.L. (2005). The Effects of Cultural Adaptation on Children and Adolescents. Lecture given at the Cambridge Series Conference: Trauma and Youth Sponsor: Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry and the Little Home for Wanderers, Boston, MA.