Treasurer Biography

Julia Phillips, Ph.D.
Pronouns: She/Her
Term: 2025-2028

I am a Professor and Director of Training of the APA-accredited program in Urban Education, Counseling Psychology at Cleveland State University. Before academia, I worked for 21 years as a university counseling center psychologist. I bring a big picture view of our specialty by virtue of being a late career psychologist, but more so by virtue of my past leadership experiences in SCP (Treasurer, Vice President for Communications, Leadership Academy/Collaborative), APA, Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (President), Counseling Psychology Specialty Council (Chair), and the Council of Specialties in Professional Psychology (Member/Secretary).

I lead from the perspective of servant leadership, doing work that the organization is calling me to do. I will dedicate my professional service exclusively to SCP to assist with complex decisions associated with balancing budgets while being committed to responsiveness and reliability. As an Executive Board Member, I would also bring cultural humility as a foundational value. In leadership positions, remaining open, inquisitive, and courageous have been key as I’ve challenged myself and others have challenged me.

I have stood with exceptional colleagues creating national conferences with social justice and liberatory themes (e.g., 2019 CCPTP, 2020 Counseling Psychology Conference), taken advantage of opportunities to grow (e.g., Academics for Black Survival and Wellness, Anneliese Singh’s Liberation Process Groups), and integrated liberation psychology in teaching and research. I would bring this same dedication to SCP’s new values and vision for uprooting Anti-Black Racism and promoting liberation for all on the Executive Board. As SCP moves forward, we will need to tie our budget to liberatory activities while also finding creative ways to do the work in a period of austerity.