Kimberly Balsam, PhD

Kimberly F. Balsam, PhD, is department chair and professor in the Department of Psychology at Palo Alto University, where she is also the director of the Center for LGBTQ Evidence Based Applied Research and the LGBTQ Area of Emphasis in the PhD Program. Balsam received her PhD in clinical psychology from University of Vermont in 2003 and her MS in counseling psychology from University of Oregon in 1994. She completed a predoctoral internship at the VA Puget Sound in Seattle, WA from 2002-2003, a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Washington (UW) from 2003-06, and was research assistant professor in the UW School of Social Work from 2007-12.

Balsam is past president of APA’s Div. 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity) and was a founding co-chair of the Div. 44 Task Force on Racism. She is also a Fellow of APA’s Divisions 35 and 44 and was a 2019 recipient of an APA Presidential Citation for her work on intersectionality and social justice initiatives within APA. She was a participant in LIWP in 2016-17 and joined the Advisory Committee in 2020. Balsam has been conducting research and publishing in the area of LGBTQ+ psychology since the 1990s, addressing topics such as trauma and minority stress, LGBTQ+ veterans and military personnel, same-gender couples, and development of culturally relevant assessment tools for LGBTQ-specific constructs. Balsam’s Research on Intersectional Sexual and gender identity Experiences lab at Palo Alto University includes undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees who are engaged in research on diverse LGBTQ populations from an intersectional, social justice perspective. She is currently the principal investigator for the LGBTQ+ Clinical Academy, a county-funded project to develop and test the efficacy of a 40-hour LGBTQ+ cultural competence training for behavioral health providers in Santa Clara County.

Balsam has a 20-year history of clinical practice in a wide range of settings including community mental health, correctional, inpatient, and most recently private practice. At Palo Alto University, she teaches master’s and doctoral-level courses in psychopathology, clinical skills, evidence-based treatment, research methods, and LGBTQ psychology.