Jillian C. Shipherd, PhD, Receives Social Justice Award
Jillian C. Shipherd, PhD, professor of psychiatry and an affiliate psychologist at the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System, has received a 2025 Charles Silverstein Lifetime Achievement Award in Social Justice from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). The award is given to individuals who have made significant and sustained lifetime contributions to advancing social justice initiatives over many years.
Jillian Shipherd, PhDShipherd’s area of expertise is the interface of mental and physical health subsequent to trauma with a focus on sexual and gender minority populations. This award recognizes her international expertise and work in LGBTQ+ health policy, education and research, including trauma recovery.
She has successfully directed more than $4 million in grant funding and is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and dozens of book chapters, has served on the editorial board of LGBT Health and other journals, as well as co-editor of the book Adult Transgender Care: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Training Mental Health Professionals.
Shipherd has received a dozen awards for her distinguished contributions in LGBTQ+ health from leading organizations, including the American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal Award for Impact.
She earned her PhD in clinical psychology at the State University of NY at Buffalo and completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Boston Consortium at the VA Boston Healthcare System.
ABCT is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition. These aims are achieved through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, prevention and treatment. The Charles Silverstein Lifetime Achievement Award in Social Justice was designed to recognize the critical, and often under-recognized, contributions from cognitive and/or behavior therapy grassroots activists who are from and primarily work with minoritized and oppressed communities.