Dr. Harris is a licensed psychotherapist, educator, and scholar whose work explores the intersection of emotional life, cultural context, and the broader systems that shape how people learn to survive, cope, and relate to themselves and others.

She holds a PhD in Social Work and has over 15 years of experience across private practice, community mental health, and graduate social work education. Jalana has taught at multiple universities, with course content focused on human behavior, research methods, power, oppression, and the social, cultural, and historical forces that influence identity, well-being, and choice.

Jalana’s clinical work is grounded in trauma-informed, relational care that honors the complexity of lived experience. She works with individuals navigating trauma, burnout, emotional suppression, identity strain, and the long-term impact of marginalization and historical trauma. Her approach integrates evidence-based modalities (including ACT, DBT, IFS, EMDR, and somatic practices) while remaining attentive to meaning, values, and the ways people have adapted to survive.

Her scholarship examines intersectionality, cultural scripts and archetypes, misogynoir, and sexual agency, with particular attention to how social expectations around strength, resilience, and self-sacrifice shape emotional and relational health. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and is frequently invited to speak on trauma, radical self-care, anti-oppressive practice, and healing beyond survival.