Biography

Shareefah N. Al’Uqdah, Ph.D., has a long-standing commitment to improving the lives of individuals and families through mental health initiatives. At North Carolina Central University, she found her passion for psychology earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Following NCCU, she attended and graduated from Howard University with a Ph.D. in Counseling psychology.  Continuing her tenure at Howard, she serves as an Associate Professor in the APA accredited Counseling Psychology program. Dr. Shareefah not only educates future psychologists, but she also conducts national and international workshops for educators, professionals, and community members on wellness, grief, substance abuse, and implicit bias. Her published research examines issues that impact urban families, urban schools, and African American Muslims.  She has received over two million dollars in grant funding to help decrease mental health disparities within underserved communities. Outside of the academy, Dr. Shareefah serves as the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Your Neighborhood Clinic, a not-for-profit organization that provides low cost and insurance-based mental health services. As a loving wife and mother of four wonderful sons, Dr. Shareefah affectionately coined Your Neighborhood Psychologist on social media to highlight her commitment to healing every hood everywhere through mental health awareness and initiatives.