Rosemary E. Phelps

Rosemary Elaine Phelps (born 1955) is an American counseling psychologist whose work has focused on racial identity and the race-related stress experienced by racially diverse students and faculty in higher education. She is known for her advocacy and mentoring of students and faculty of color and her commitment to training counseling psychologists to be culturally responsive and competent. Phelps is professor and coordinator of undergraduate service courses in the Department of Human Counseling and Services at the University of Georgia.

Phelps received the American Psychological Association (APA) Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training Award in 2010, recognizing "her long-term commitment to the development of the Preparing Future Faculty program, her recruitment and retention of students of color, and her work in racial and ethnic identity development." In 2011, Phelps was named an APA Fellow through the Society for Counseling Psychology. In 2016, she was honored with a Career Achievement Award given to notable alumni of Ohio State University.

Biography Phelps was born in Fort Valley, Georgia in 1955 into a family of farmers in a rural section of Peach County.

Phelps worked as an adjunct assistant professor, staff psychologist, and assistant professional specialist in the Psychology Department of the University of Notre Dame from 1986–1989.

Phelps is a licensed psychologist in the state of Indiana. She previously chaired the Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Committee of APA, Division 17 (1990-1991)

Research Phelps's dissertation research focused on racial differences in perceptions of verbal aggression.

Phelps has conducted many studies related to her expertise in counseling psychology. One of her projects focused on university and college counseling centers as an option for new professionals in counseling psychology. Phelps examined the choice that many new counseling psychologists make on whether to begin their career in a school or university and reviewed professional and personal issues that may arise when opting to work in the education system. Through collaborative research projects, Phelps has addressed many topics of relevance to training counseling psychologists, including the personalization of career-related choices, implementation of the scientist-practitioner model, cultural competency, and social justice, while taking issues of race, gender, and social inequality into account.