Sharlisa Latrice Byrd

Sharlisa Byrd, LMFT, SEP, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Clinical Traumatologist, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner who believes healing happens in the presence of safety, connection, and cultural understanding. She has devoted her career to supporting individuals and communities—especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds—through trauma recovery, nervous system regulation, and the reclaiming of personal and collective resilience. As an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, Byrd weaves social justice, cultural humility, and somatic practices into the training of future counselors.

She is the author of the forthcoming book Healing the Healers: Somatic Resilience for Black Clinicians in a System of Injustice and a contributor to Somatic Experiencing International. Drawing from her own lived experiences and years of clinical practice, Byrd invites her students and clients to approach healing as both a personal journey and a community responsibility—rooted in compassion, equity, and the power of belonging.

• Trauma-informed counseling and psychotherapy
• Somatic Experiencing® and nervous system regulation
• Multicultural and social justice–oriented counseling
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Clinical supervision and counselor education

• Somatic interventions for trauma recovery and resilience
• Multicultural and cross-cultural counseling theory and practice
• Racial trauma, systemic oppression, and mental health disparities
• Applications of Polyvagal Theory in clinical and community-based settings
• Best practices in clinical training, supervision, and counselor development

• Palo Alto University, MA, Counseling Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy

• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Kaiser Permanente (2024)
• Trauma Track Specialist, Kaiser Permanente (2024)
• Marriage and Family Therapist, Custody Behavioral Health (2019–2023)
• Marriage and Family Therapist, Community-Based Mental Health Programs Serving Diverse and Underserved Populations (Before 2019)

• Byrd, S. (forthcoming). Healing the Healers: Somatic Resilience for Black Clinicians in a System of Injustice. [Manuscript in preparation].
• Hamilton, J., & Byrd, S. (2025, January 30). Transforming Trauma: A BIPOC Journey Through Somatic Experiencing™. Published on the Somatic Experiencing® International website.