Alana Tappin, CPsych

Alana Tappin, CPsych is a licensed clinical psychologist, and the owner/operator of a private psychology clinic that specializes in psychological support for marginalized and racialized people. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, she conducts psychological assessments, treatment and consultation to children, teens and adults. Dr. Tappin also provides supervision and training to students, pre-licensed and licensed mental health therapists. She has long had an interest in the psychological impact of racism and offers trainings on whiteness, shame and racism, and offers anti-oppression and anti-racism training to community organizations, universities, and private businesses. Dr. Tappin earned her doctorate degree from Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus in 2012, with a specialization in family violence. She served as vice president for an organization connected to her doctoral program called Students for Multicultural Awareness, Research and Training (SMART).

During her time in this organization, Dr. Tappin deepened her passion for social justice, and acquired skills necessary to educate and support mental health professionals as they journey toward compassionate and accountable psychological care for people with marginalized and racialized identities. She is working on a book chapter aimed at exploring the black female identity and mental health. She and her colleague Robin Schlenger, LCSW, have co-written a book chapter in press titled Transforming the Shame of Whiteness for Collective Healing which focuses on ways to address the deep shame that often comes with complicity in white supremacy. Dr. Tappin developed the idea of applying shame resilience theory (by Dr. Brene Brown) to racial justice. She and her colleague Robin Schlenger, LCSW, co-developed a training series based on this idea entitled Shame Resilience and Transformational Skills for White People and Overcoming the Shame of Internalized Racialization for BIPOC. She is working on a developing a new training series entitled Addressing the Pain of Internalized Anti-Blackness.

Dr. Tappin is a faculty member at The Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy at Loyola University in Chicago where she teaches about the intersection of systems of power, oppression and the therapeutic process and leads weekly case consultations for students pursuing a postgraduate training in psychotherapy.