Jasmin Brooks Stephens

Jasmin Brooks Stephens is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, whose research is grounded in strengths-based and community-engaged clinical science approaches. Her work focuses on understanding how sociocultural and contextual factors shape the mental health trajectories of Black youth and emerging adults, with particular attention to suicide vulnerability and racial trauma. She examines the direct and indirect pathways through which racism, discrimination, and traumatic stress influence psychological well-being, while also identifying cultural protective factors that promote resilience within Black families and communities. Her research integrates qualitative and quantitative methods to advance suicide risk prediction, mental health modeling, and intervention development. A central goal of her program is to identify modifiable targets that can inform culturally responsive policies, prevention strategies, and community-based interventions aimed at reducing racism-related stress and suicide risk. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Houston and completed her clinical internship at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.