Founder and Licensed Psychological Associate
Dr. Terrence D. Judd, PhD is a psychologist whose work focuses on trauma, dissociation, identity development, and the emotional impact of life disruptions and loss. Dr. Judd has particular experience working with complex trauma, grief and bereavement, depression, anxiety, mood dysregulation, identity-based stress, and dissociative experiences. He offers psychotherapy that is relational, reflective, and grounded in both contemporary clinical practice and culturally informed understandings of meaning, belonging, and healing.
Dr. Judd's practice is informed by African-centered and Black psychological traditions that emphasize culture, spirituality, ancestry, purpose, and community as vital aspects of well-being. This perspective allows him to offer a space where clients from historically marginalized communities feel seen and safe, while also providing broadly accessible, evidence-informed care for individuals of all backgrounds. His approach integrates psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral and acceptance-based therapies, and dream-oriented and depth-focused work to support emotional integration and self-understanding.
Across all work, his focus is on helping people restore coherence between their inner experience, their relationships, and their life story.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Education
- PhD in Clinical Psychology, Psychodynamic Concentration
Fielding Graduate University - MA in Clinical Psychology
Fielding Graduate University - BS in Psychology, Applied Behavior Analysis
Purdue University Global - Undergraduate Studies
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Clinical Training and Experience
Dr. Judd’s clinical background spans rural hospitals, community mental health programs, forensic settings, and culturally grounded practices. His roles have included:
- Postdoctoral Fellow at Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, New Mexico, with a focus on trauma, dissociation, rural psychology, and integrated care
- Clinical intern with the New Mexico Psychology Internship Consortium on the rural psychology track
- Clinician at Onipa PCS in Raleigh, North Carolina, providing spiritually integrated and culturally grounded psychotherapy
- Forensic and inpatient experience at Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina
- Community mental health experience at AHB Behavioral Health and Wellness in Durham, North Carolina
Across these settings, he has provided therapy, psychological assessment, crisis intervention, suicide risk assessment, pre-bariatric evaluations, and interdisciplinary consultation. His work includes treatment of trauma-related disorders, complex dissociation, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, borderline features, identity stress, and psychosis.
Specializations
- Trauma and complex PTSD
- Grief, loss, and bereavement
- Dissociation
- Depression, anxiety, and panic
- Sleep concerns and dream-related distress
- Emotion dysregulation and borderline features
- Identity development and life transitions
- Culturally grounded therapy for Black clients
- African-centered meaning systems, ancestral narratives, and spirituality
- Rural mental health and community-based care
Dr. Judd draws from psychodynamic psychotherapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), DBT strategies, and culturally informed clinical models.
Research, Writing, and Scholarship
Dr. Judd’s research and writing grow out of the same questions that guide his clinical work: how culture, history, spirituality, and lived experience shape emotional health, and how healing becomes possible when those layers are honored rather than ignored.
His scholarship explores African-centered psychology, ancestral meaning systems, symbolism, and trauma, with a focus on clinical relevance and culturally grounded care.
Selected Publications:
Judd, T. D. (2024). A clinical utility of Kemet’s ancient healing wisdom: A hermeneutic phenomenological study.
Owens, T. K., Mizock, L., Ormerod, A. J., Nelson, A., St. Amand, C. M., Paces-Wiles, D., & Judd, T. D. (2022). “Invisible in the most tragic of ways”: Exploring internalized transphobia and coping through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice.
Clinical & Research Experience
Alongside his clinical training, Dr. Judd has been engaged in research that explores emotional and spiritual experience as it is actually lived.
From 2016 to 2017, he was the principal researcher on a qualitative project at Fielding Graduate University examining archetypal imagery and emotional awareness. Through storytelling and symbolic imagery, this work explored how people make sense of their inner worlds, emotional patterns, and spiritual experiences—insights that continue to inform his relational, depth-oriented approach to therapy.
He is active in organizations focused on Black psychology, spirituality, trauma, and community-based work.
Professional Service
His service includes roles in trauma-informed care initiatives, resilience education, stress first aid, interdisciplinary training, and mentoring psychology trainees.
Clinical Approach
Little River Psychological Services reflects Dr. Judd’s commitment to therapy that is relational, culturally grounded, and guided by humility. His approach honors how culture, ancestry, and place shape emotional experience. Therapy with Dr. Judd supports clients in exploring the stories they carry, the silence they have inherited, and the healing that becomes possible when emotional wounds are acknowledged and understood.