Vice President for Professional Practice Bio

Term: 2021-2024
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Dr. Bedford Palmer II is a licensed psychologist, a tenured Associate Professor, and the chair of the Counseling Department at Saint Mary's College of California. He earned his bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of California Irvine, his Master's degree in psychology from California State University Long Beach, and his Doctorate in counseling psychology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In addition, Dr. Palmer completed his predoctoral psychology internship at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Dr. Palmer spent three years as a staff psychologist, coordinating Services to Students of African Descent and the Multicultural Immersion Program at the University of California Davis. Dr. Palmer has been a faculty member at Saint Mary's College of California since 2015. He teaches courses in professional ethics, intercultural communication, human sexuality, psychological perspectives of gender, and advanced clinical practice to Master's level clinicians in-training. His research interests involve multicultural psychology, social justice advocacy, Black male development, ally identity development, multicultural competence, training of psychologists, and psychology in social media.

In 2016, Dr. Palmer founded BFP Consulting Inc (now Deeper Than Color: Social Justice & Strength-Based Psychotherapy and Consulting) in Oakland, California. He provides psychotherapy and diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting to a diverse clientele of individuals and organizations. Dr. Palmer has served on the board of directors for the Association of Black Psychologists as the State Diversity Delegate for the California Psychological Association and is a past President of the Alameda Psychological Association. He is the producer/co-host of the Naming It podcast and is the author of "Daddy Why Am I Brown?": A healthy conversation about skin color and family.