ABPsi San Diego Chapter in conjunction with Poet Laureate, Alyce Smith

Association of Black Psychologist-San Diego Chapter (ABPsi-San Diego): 

Our Mission:is the liberation of the African Mind,empowerment of the African Character,and enlivenment and illumination of theAfrican Spirit. 

Rev. Alyce Smith-Cooper, an African-American Ancestral storyteller and actor who provides healings, motivational, and diversity training sessions. She is widely recognized for creating cultural understandings in such diverse venues as: the Old Globe Theatre, corporation & government classrooms (MCI, FBI), the Wild Animal Park, and the Bethel African-Methodist Episcopal Church. Smith-Coopers credentials include education as a registered nurse with a specialty in psychiatric nursing and a master's degree in Human Behavior. She is a staff Chaplain at Scripps Memorial Hospital, an ordained minister and is in private practice as a spiritual counselor. She is a psycho-dramatist, certified to find deep meaning, strength, and healing from public storytelling. Alyce is equally comfortable setting up motivational training programs or teaching schools and organization how to deal with diversity. As a result, her audience becomes better listeners and more connected to life.

She has performed in Fortune 500 boardrooms, museums, libraries, schools, homes, and under trees. She is Storyteller-in-Residence at San Diego's Children's Hospital and Wild Animal Park's Heart of Africa. In over 35 years of service, Ms. Smith-Cooper has captured hearts by the power of her presence, through which her words aid the imagination to soar by the beauty of storytelling. She sits, touches, sings, and prays with the dying and their families. As an Ancestral Storyteller, Alyce Smith-Cooper introduces audiences to the world of African-American folklore through her vibrant words and expressive vocal techniques. Alyce encourages students to explore their personal stories and to ignite their imaginations, spontaneity and creativity. Students develop an awareness of a rich and colorful culture and learn to appreciate the magical world of the storyteller.