About Dr. Anderson
Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson is a daughter of Detroit and mental health maven.
For over a decade, she’s been working with Black youth and their families
to “dropkick” racism and engage in resistance for a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Her mission is to develop programs, products, and places
which eradicate the impact of discrimination on Black youth’s mental health.
Biography
Riana Elyse Anderson, PhD, LCP is a licensed clinical psychologist, CEO + Founder of RACE Space Inc., and Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of Social Work. Her scholarship addresses applied coping strategies to reduce race-related stress in Black families.
Dr. Anderson strives to improve psychological outcomes for Black youth through culturally and contextually affirming therapeutic programs focused on racism and discrimination, effective coping and healing strategies, and community building, participation, and collaboration. One of her primary goals is to create programs, policies, and places which support the mental and physical health of Black youth in urban communities through mental health research and industry innovation.
Dr. Anderson was born in, raised for, and returned to Detroit. She enjoys all things food, sports, and travel, and is adventurous. She is becoming increasingly addicted to cake pops.
Learn More:
Education and Residential Fellowships
Research & Recognition
Areas of Expertise
Racial Discrimination
Racial Socialization
Stress and Coping
Racial Stress and Trauma
Mental Health
Black Families
Interventions
Research Overview
Dr. Anderson investigates how protective familial mechanisms such as parenting and racial socialization operate in the face of racial discrimination. Dr. Anderson is particularly interested in how these factors predict familial functioning and subsequent child psychosocial outcomes, especially when enrolled in family-based interventions. To investigate this further, Dr. Anderson has contributed to a range of tools, including the RECAST theory, the RaSCS measure, and the EMBRace intervention.
The EMBRace Intervention
Dr. Anderson developed the Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race (EMBRace) intervention—a family-based racial socialization and racial stress and trauma management intervention—to 1) reduce parent and adolescent stress, 2) improve adolescent and familial psychological well-being and 3) improve clinicians’ abilities to work with Black clients with racial trauma. EMBRace advances skill and confidence regarding racial socialization content and competence, socialization processes (knowledge, stress management, and coping) and familial relationships.
Selected Fellowships & Scholarships
-Harvard University Hutchins Center - Fellow, 2023
-Stanford Center for the Advanced Study of Behavioral Sciences - Fellow, 2022
-Presidential Leadership Scholars - Scholar, 2022
-National Black Child Development Institute Policy Fellowship - Fellow, 2021
-William T. Grant Foundation - Scholars Program Award, 2021
-National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities - Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar, 2020
-Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Culture of Health Leaders Fellowship, 2017
-National Institute of Mental Health - Child Intervention, Prevention, & Services (CHIPS) Fellowship, 2016
-Ford Foundation Fellowship Program - Postdoctoral Award, 2015
Selected Awards & Honors
-Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences - Kellina Craig-Henderson Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Award, 2024
-Yale School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Psychology Section - Distinguished Alumni Award, 2023
-Association for Psychological Science - Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, 2023
-Forbes - 16 Healthcare Innovators That You Should Know, 2022
-American Psychological Foundation - Theodore Blau Early Career Award, 2022
-University of Michigan Black Celebratory - Faculty Cornerstone Award, 2022
-Society for Research on Adolescence - Early Career Research Award, 2022
-Crain’s Detroit Business - Notable Rising Star in Healthcare, 2021
-The Root - The Root 100, 2021
-Society for Research in Child Development - Early Career Research Contributions Award, 2021
-Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences - Child Development Impact Award, 2021
-University of Michigan, Depression Center - (Inaugural) Racial Injustice Award, 2020
-University of Michigan, Intergroup Relations Program - Outstanding Alumnx Award, 2020
-University of Michigan, Depression Center - Rachel Upjohn Clinical Scholars Award, 2019
-American Psychological Association PsycShorts Video Competition - Viewers’ Choice Award Winner, 2019
-University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education - Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Citation for Excellence in Leadership and Innovation, 2017
-University of Michigan Black Alumni Association - Making a Difference in Healthcare Award, 2016
-Association of Black Psychologists - Sage Student Research Award, 2015
-American Psychological Association Division 45 - A. Toy Caldwell-Colbert Student Contribution Service Award, 2014
Funding
