JANINA SCARLET, PHD

Janina Scarlet, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, PTSD/trauma expert, co-founder of Superhero Therapy (ST), author, TEDx speaker, and a full-time geek. She works with active-duty service members, as well as veterans and non-veteran civilians with PTSD and trauma.

A Ukrainian-born refugee, she survived Chernobyl radiation and persecution. Dr. Scarlet immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 with her family and later, inspired by the X-Men, developed ST to help people with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. ST is a tool that helps clinicians incorporate clients’ passions about popular culture into evidence-based therapies, such as CBT, ACT, DBT, CPT EMDR, and narrative therapy to help build rapport with clients, increase adherence to treatment, and narrative therapy to help build rapport with clients, increase adherence to treatment, and to help clients determine their own sense of purpose (i.e., the client’s own heroic journey).

Dr. Scarlet is the lead trauma specialist at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Management and with the Pop Culture Hero Coalition. She is the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award by the United Nations Association for her work on Superhero Therapy. Dr. Scarlet’s work has been featured on Yahoo, BBC, NPR, Sunday Times, CNN, CW, ABC, The New York Times, Forbes, and many other outlets. She regularly consults on books and television shows, including HBO’s The Young Justice and was portrayed as a psychologist comic book character in Gail Simone’s Seven Days graphic novel.

Her books include Superhero Therapy, Harry Potter Therapy, Therapy Quest, Super-Women, It Shouldn’t Be This Way, Superhero Therapy for Anxiety and Trauma, and many others.