Kimberly Marie Ashby

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Kimberly Marie Ashby is a Black, Afro-Indigenous, queer, woman artist, activist, and counseling psychologist. She received her PhD in counseling psychology at Boston College and her BA in psychology and comparative ethnic studies from Columbia University.

As a mental health clinician, Kimberly has been a a staff psychotherapist at the Therapy Center of Philadelphia providing culturally-responsive, individual treatment and outreach to women, transgender, and gender non-conforming community members. She has also provided psychotherapy and consultation at the Ladipo Group to Black community members with a diverse range of social identities and presenting concerns. Kimberly has provided psychotherapy and social justice/inclusion outreach and facilitation at a number of college counseling centers, including those at Drexel University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Wellesley College, and Salem State University. Additionally, Kimberly has experience as a mental health case manager in New York City, working primarily with racial minorities and low-income populations with serious mental illness.

Kimberly is a multi-media, visual artist and singer-songwriter. By addressing social justice issues in her art and by utilizing therapeutic arts techniques in her clinical practice, she aspires to utilize her passion for the arts to benefit the mental health of marginalized individuals and communities.

Kimberly has organized with a number of activist groups, including Eradicate Boston College Racism, a student activist group focused on dismantling institutional racism at Boston College and beyond, and Don’t Meet Hurt with Hate, an anti-Islamophobia initiative. In addition, Kimberly was a co-editor of the Microagressions Project, a web community that invites people to share their experiences of everyday microaggressions (a form of racism comprised of subtle, daily racial slights and insults; Sue et al., 2007). The Microaggression Project also provides education on microaggressions.

Kimberly's dissertation used narrative inquiry to examine the coping skills that Black women college students at predominantly white institutions of higher education use to support their emotional health in the face of racism and sexism.