Meet the division volunteer: Melanie M. Wilcox, PhD, ABPP

I think the newly-articulated values of the Society of Counseling Psychologyopens in new window, part of past-president Dr. Shavonne Moore-Lobban’s, initiative, sum this up for me. Counseling psychology has long been committed to social justice, which is to say, addressing the upstream oppression-based issues that lead to downstream mental health and other detrimental impacts. Our centering of critical consciousness, advocacy, liberation, and healing has allowed us to deepen and advance our antiracism and anti-oppression work, and I am so proud that counseling psychology continues to help lead toward an antiracist psychology.

It goes without saying that we are living in difficult times. We are living in an age of pervasive sociopolitical trauma, dislocation and disconnection, worsening economic inequity and precarity, and direct attacks on DEIJ work. Counseling psychologists are uniquely positioned to serve as leaders in the efforts to fight back against these attacks and attempts to roll back civil rights; but as anti-DEIJ legislation and violent rhetoric continues to rise, such work is not without great risk to the individual counseling psychologists engaged in these efforts. I believe that navigating these difficult issues to continue to advocate for a psychology, and a world, that is a better place for all people is going to be front and center, and it is crucial.

You don’t have to be a counseling psychologist to be a member of our SCP community. A number of our members are psychologists whose training is in other specialties, but who share a commitment to our SCP values.

This is really tough—I wanted to be a teacher since early elementary school and a psychologist since junior high, and now I’m both. I have also always wanted to be a writer, and I’m fortunate that my career allows for this, too. I feel deeply connected to history, law, and policy/politics, so probably something in that vein; but I do love to bake and do interior design.

Contact: Melanie Wilcox