Alexis Abernethy, PhD, is recognized with this APA Citizen Psychologist Presidential Citation for her leadership in empowering marginalized communities to overcome the cultural and systemic barriers to their health and well-being.
Abernethy actively responded to the unique ways that religious communities in New Orleans were impacted in the months and years following Hurricane Katrina. Religious leaders faced the challenge of assisting their congregations in the adjustment following devastation and mass displacement in their city. Abernethy proactively engaged key New Orleans religious leaders to solicit their needs. In response to an invitation by Fuller Theological Seminary’s president and the support of the Provost’s Office, she raised the requisite funds and coalesced a core team of psychologists and a theology faculty member to develop and implement a research-informed, three-year support project that focused on resilience development for clergy and their spouses. The intervention was structured as an annual weekend retreat series that engaged these leaders in self-care, spiritual care, and relationship care to strengthen them and thereby promote their sustained efforts in aiding their community.
Along with serving pastors in New Orleans experiencing burnout in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Abernethy’s research and consultation served African-American men at risk for prostate cancer, Latina and African-American breast cancer survivors, residents in the Bahamas, group therapists in China, and many other populations. Abernethy’s impact is not only felt locally but globally as well.
For 13 years, Abernethy has been a member and leader in the “Sacred Praise Chorale” choir at Faithful Central Bible Church. She sings in the choir and teaches music theory to members. A colleague wrote of her music ministry, “She uplifts others in everything she does, always transforming every environment into a nurturing room of support and love for all.”
Abernethy has been a powerful mentor to her African-American students in her predominantly White institution. As the only African-American professor of psychology at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, Abernethy uses her unique position to encourage and help sustain students of all ethnic and racial backgrounds in the doctoral program. She also hosts a quarterly lunch for Students of African descent in her home for current and former students to continue learning and thriving amidst the rigors of graduate school. These gatherings help students explore and navigate the challenges that arise professionally and personally in spaces where their identities are often marginalized.
Abernethy earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985 and is licensed to practice psychology in both California. Following her Fellowship in Consultation at Howard University Hospital (where she also earned a BS in psychology and completed the APA accredited internship), she worked in the Department of Psychiatry Adult Ambulatory Services at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY from 1986-1998. In 1998, she joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and has remained since. Concurrently, she held the position, director of Faculty Spiritual Formation, from 2014-2017 and is currently the Associate Provost for Faculty Inclusion and Equity.