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Ronke Tapp, Ph.D.

Ronke Tapp, Ph.D.

she/her/hers

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About Me

Professional Background

Dr. Tapp received her degrees from Iowa State University. She began with an interest in healing companion and exotic animals (veterinary medicine) before realizing an equally strong passion in healing the human animal and addressing the needs of often underrepresented and overlooked individuals, fa...
Dr. Tapp received her degrees from Iowa State University. She began with an interest in healing companion and exotic animals (veterinary medicine) before realizing an equally strong passion in healing the human animal and addressing the needs of often underrepresented and overlooked individuals, families, and communities. She received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Animal Science with a minor in Psychology, for which she completed an honors project entitled Survey of Christian attitudes toward rape, sexual abuse, and counseling. She received her Master's and Doctorate of Philosophy degrees in Counseling Psychology, where her research examined the validity and theorized career interest structure of The Strong Interest Inventory across U.S. racial and ethnic groups.

Dr. Tapp completed her predoctoral internship at the Student Counseling Service at Texas A&M University, were she continued to hone her interest and skill in addressing the needs of students of color. Post-internship, she worked one year as a staff counselor and instructor at Iowa State University before beginning work as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rhodes College. There she taught a variety of undergraduate psychology and diversity focused courses. It was from these experiences, that Dr. Tapp began presenting on the common pitfalls of and successful strategies for teaching diversity focused courses; her lecture and presentations on various aspects of "Teaching Sensitive Topics" continue to be popular. In 2005, she relocated to begin work as the Assistant Director of Multiculturalism at the University of Rochester's, University Counseling Center. Here she provides therapy to a diverse student body, and training, consultation, and outreach to other therapists, University staff and professors, and student groups. In addition, she also creates and provides related lectures, workshops, and trainings within the local community as requested.

Dr. Tapp has a lifelong passion and professional interest in issues of multiculturalism and diversity and its impact on individuals, their interpersonal/social and community relations, and societal interactions. Her concentration areas include: 1) Multicultural (including race/ethnicity, gender, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, etc.) issues related to identity, adjustment, interpersonal relationships/conflict, academic/work success, etc.; 2) Understanding and addressing historical oppression and historical/generational trauma (especially race and ethnicity based traumas, e.g. PTSS, Japanese Internment, Native experiences, etc.); 3) Best practices in diversity training, e.g. "Teaching Sensitive Topics" series; and 4) Cognitive and Behavioral based treatments. She is also partially fluent in Spanish (~85% written, slightly less verbal) and has conducted some bilingual therapy.

In addition, Dr. Tapp, recently began a personal and professional interest "hobby" in the creation of "Sistah Doctor", a Facebook page and YouTube channel focused on sharing information focused on the mental health of communities of color and faith. Sistah Doctor's shared resources also include a parenting focused page, "Train Them Up Determined".

She is a licensed Counseling Psychologist in the state of NY.

Faculty Appointments

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry (Part-Time) - Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatry UHS (SMD)

Credentials

Education

PhD | Iowa State University. Psychology. 2001

MS | Iowa State University. Psychology. 1997

BS | Iowa State University. Science. 1994

Awards

Otto Thaler, MD Memorial Award for Outstanding Teaching in Psychotherapy. 2022

CNPAAMEI Leadership Development Institute Fellow. 2020 - 2021