Smith, Laura (ls2396)

Laura Smith

Professor of Psychology and Education
Interviewing new Ph.D. students to enroll in Fall 2025
212-678-3809

Office Location:

426A HMann

Office Hours:

By appointment

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University

M.S. in Counseling Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University

B.A. in English and Psychology with High Distinction, University of Virginia

 

Scholarly Interests

Critical psychology

Whiteness and racism

Social inclusion/exclusion and emotional wellbeing


 


Selected Publications

Books  

Smith, L. (2010). Psychology, poverty, and the end of social exclusion. New York City: Teachers College Press. 

Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., & Smith, L. (2022). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice. Wiley.

Selected Publications

Smith, L., Xu, O.Y., Short, K., Montion., E., & Gordon, B. (Under review). Psychology and whiteness itself.

Smith, L., Xu, O.Y., Asencio, C., & Trevino, M. (Under review.) Whiteness and the racism-related research agenda. 

Sue, D.W., Neville, H., & Smith, L. (in press). Racism in counseling and psychotherapy: Illuminate and disarm. American Psychologist.

Abdel Salam, L. & Smith, L. (in press). "“What are you?” Racial ambiguity and belonging among non-veiled Arab American women. The Counseling Psychologist.

Smith, L., Goodman, L., Gordon, T., & Hailes, H. (in press). Epistemic injustice and individual wellness. In (Prilleltensky, I., Di Martino, S., Scarpa, M., & Ness, O., Eds.)  How people thrive: Promoting the synergy of wellness, fairness, and worthiness. Cambridge University Press.

Smith, L., Scott-McLaughlin, R., Abdel-Salam, L., Alsaidi, S., Madon, N., Robin, D., & Trojanovic, N. (In press). Exploring preferences for multicultural workshop formats: Does the race of the trainer matter? Professional Psychology.

Smith, L., Madon, N., Gordon, T., Arroyo, C.A., Xu, O.Y., & Sheffey, M. (2023). Psychology, race, and “the politics of truth.” Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.

Smith, L., Abdel-Salam, L., Scott-McLaughlin, R. E., Baranowski, K., Madon, N., & Williams, M. (2022). Counseling psychology and participatory justice: “Sharing the university”. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 1-19.

Alsaidi, S., Velez, B., & Smith, L. (2021). Arab, Brown, and other: Voices of Arab-American women on identity, discrimination, and well-being. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.

Smith, L., Abdel-Salam, L., Coyne, M., McVicar, C., Robin, D., & Scott-McLaughlin, R. (2020). Listening to #2A: Applying a qualitative method to Twitter dialogue. The Qualitative Report.

Smith, L., Velez, B., Chambers, C., & Baranowski, K. (2019). Economic disadvantage at the intersections. Journal of Multicultural Counseling. 47(3), 190-206.

Abdel-Salam, L., Rifkin, R., Smith, L., & Zaki, S. (2019). Experiences of gender among Arab American women: A qualitative study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 66(3), 255.

Smith, L., Baranowski, K., Abdel-Salam, L., & McGinley, M. (2018). Youth participatory action research: Agency and unsilence as anti-classist practice. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2, 176-186.

Baranowski, K. & Smith, L. (2018). Working with undocumented immigrants from Mexico: Experiences of practitioners in the borderlands. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 49, 185-192.

Hankerson, S. H., Wells, K., Sullivan, M., Johnson, J., Smith, L., Crayton, L., Miller-Sethi, F., et al. (2018). Partnering with African American churches to create a community coalition for mental health. Ethnicity & Disease, 28, 467-474.

Smith, L., Shenk, M., Tran, C., Poon, D., Wahba, R., & Voegtli, K. (2017). “There’s not a rug big enough to hide us under”: Participatory action research as anti-ageist psychological practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 48, 412-420.

Smith, L., Kashubeck-West, S., Payton, G., & Adams, E. (2017). White professors teaching about racism. The Counseling Psychologist, 45, 651-668.

Spanierman, L. and Smith, L. (2017).  Multicultural research and practice: The roles of White allies. The Counseling Psychologist, 45, 606-617.

Smith, L., Mao, S., & Deshpande, A. (2016). “Talking across worlds”: Classist microaggressions and higher education. Journal of Poverty, 20, 127-151.

Smith, L. (2015). Reforming the minimum wage: Toward a position for psychology. American Psychologist, 70, 557-565.

Smith, L. and Ali, A. (2014). Precluding poverty through social inclusion. Istanbul: United Nations Development Program.

Goodwin, A.L., Smith, L., Souto-Manning, M.,Cheruvu, R., Tan, M. Y., Reed, R., & Taveras, L. (2014). What should teacher educators know and be able to do? Journal of Teacher Education, 66, 284-302. 

Smith, L., Beck, K., Bernstein, E., & Dashtguard, P. (2014). YPAR and school counseling practice: A school-wide framework for student well-being. Journal of School Counseling, 12 (21).

Smith, L.  (2013). Social class and social exclusion: So close, and yet so far away. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 83, 11-16.

Smith, L., Baranowski, K., Allen, A., & Bowen, R. (2013).  Poverty, crime seriousness, and the “politics of disgust.” Journal of Poverty, 375-393.

Smith, L., Li, V. , Dykema, S., Hamlet, D., & Shellman, A. (2013).  “Honoring somebody that society doesn’t honor”: therapists working in the context of poverty. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 138-51.

Goodman, L., Pugach, M., Skolnik, A., & Smith, L. (2013).Poverty and mental health practice: within and beyond the 50-minute hour. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69, 182-90.

Smith, L. & Lau, M. (2013). Exploring the corollaries of social justice intentionality. Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice, 59-71.

Smith, L., Bratini, L., & Appio, L.M. (2012). “Everybody’s teaching and everybody’s learning”:  Photovoice and youth counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 90, 3-12.

Smith, L., Mao, S., Perkins, S., & Ampuero, M. (2011). The relationship of clients’ social class to early  therapeutic  impressions. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 24, 15-27.

Smith, L. &  Redington, R. M. (2010b). Lessons from the experiences of White antiracist activists.  Professional Psychology: Research and Practice,  41, 541–549.

Smith, L., Davis, K., & Bhowmik, M. (2010). Youth participatory action research groups as school counseling interventions. Professional School Counseling, 14, 174-182.

Smith, L., Rosenzweig, L., &  Schmidt, M. (2010). Best practices in the reporting of PAR: Embracingboth the forest and the trees. The Counseling Psychologist, 38, 1115-1138.

Smith, L., Bratini, L., Chambers, D., Jensen, R., & Romero, L. (2010). Between idealism and reality: Meeting the challenges of participatory action research. Action Research, 8, 407-425.

Smith, L. & Romero, L. (2010). Psychological interventions in the context of poverty: Participatory action research as practice. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 12–25.

Smith, L., Allen, A., & Bowen, R. (2010). Expecting the worst: Exploring the associations between poverty and misbehavior. Journal of Poverty, 33 – 54.

Smith, L. (2009). Enhancing training and practice in the context of poverty. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 3, 84-93.

Smith, L., Chambers, D. A., & Bratini, L. (2009). When oppression is the pathogen: The participatory development of socially-just mental health practice. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79, 159-168.

Smith, L. (2008). Positioning classism within psychology’s social justice agenda. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 895-924.

Smith, L., Foley, P. F., and Chaney, M. P. (2008). Addressing classism, ableism, and heterosexism within multicultural-social justice training. Journal of Counseling and Development, 86, 303-309.

Smith, L. (2006). Addressing classism, extending multicultural competence, and serving the poor. American Psychologist, 61, 338-339.

Smith, L. (2005).  Psychotherapy, classism, and the poor:  Conspicuous by their absence. American Psychologist, 60(7), 687-696.

Smith, L., Baluch, S., Bernabei, S., Robohm, J., & Sheehy, J. (2003).  Applying a social justice framework to college counseling practice.  Journal of College Counseling, 6, 3-13.



Related Articles

First Edition: Putting Poverty on the Table

Laura Smith calls for psychology to acknowledge a pervasive problem

Winter Reading

Is there a Mediterranean aesthetic? How should the issue of social class play influence the practice of psychotherapists? And is the United States missing a potential asset in the way it defines and educates bilingual students? These are the central questions addressed, respectively, in books by John Baldacchino, Laura Smith and JoAnne Kleifgen.

Giving Youth a Voice

In which public school students get empowered to conduct action research on issues that affect their lives

TC Faculty Question Education Secretary's Vision

Writing in Education Week, a group of the College's faculty members query Arne Duncan on some of the ideas he laid out in his address to the TC community.

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