Position:

Professor

Contact Information:

ttormala@paloaltou.edu

Programs:

PhD, PsyD, Masters

Education:

PhD, Social Psychology, Stanford University (2003)
MA, Social Psychology, Stanford University (2001)
BA, Psychology and Spanish, Duke University (1998)

Biography:

 Dr. Teceta Tormala (she/her) is a social psychologist whose work centers on understanding how identity and culture shape the lived experience of individuals, and how systems can facilitate wholeness, wellness, and liberation. One focus of her scholarship is the exploration of intersectional Black identity, experience, and mental health, and the factors that promote mental wellness, healing, and liberation among members of the African diaspora. A second line of inquiry explores translational work for inclusion, equity, social change, justice, and transformation. Her research and teaching cohere around sociocultural psychology- with a recognition of historical, social, political, and economic influences on the psychological outcomes of individuals- and is grounded in critical consciousness, antiracism, feminism, and social justice.

Dr. Tormala earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and Spanish at Duke University, and received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Stanford University. She completed a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded postdoctoral fellowship at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Prior to joining the faculty at Palo Alto University, Dr. Tormala was a lecturer at Stanford University, and a visiting assistant professor at Indiana University.

Areas of Interest:

Developing critical and cultural consciousness; intersectional sociocultural identity and experience; wellness and liberation; racial and ethnic identity in Black immigrants

Selected Publications:

Tormala, T.T., Arastu, S.F.*, & Ofodu, S.C.* (in press). Cultivating cultural consciousness: Identity-based affinity groups among clinical trainees. Training and Education in Professional Psychology.

Thelamour, B., Smith, N.A., Tormala, T.T., & Hunter,, C.D. (in press). Black immigrant racial identity scholarship in the United States: A conceptual examination. Identity.

Tormala, T.T., & Mc Kenzie, R.S.* (2021). Social representations of Blackness in America: Stereotypes about Black immigrants and Black Americans. In H. Chu & B. Thelamour (Eds.), Conceptual and Methodological Approaches to Navigating Immigrant Ecologies, Springer Press.

Tormala, T.T., Patel, S.G., Soukup, E.E.*, & Clarke, A.V.* (2018). Developing measurable cultural competence and cultural humility: An application of the cultural formulation. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 12, 54–61.