Bio

Sheela Raja, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and author of Overcoming Trauma and PTSD, The Sexual Trauma Workbook for Teen Girls, The PTSD Survival Guide for Teens, and the Resilient Teen. Dr. Raja is a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago and is a nationally recognized expert in behavioral health and trauma-informed approaches to healthcare. Dr. Raja received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed internship and post-doctoral training at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Boston, MA.

She is a highly sought after speaker and consultant and has given invited talks at the international and federal level on trauma informed healthcare, resilience, and post-traumatic stress. Her books and scholarly work have been translated into several languages, including Italian, Portuguese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Turkish.

Dr. Raja has a passion for making evidence-based psychology accessible. She is a regular guest contributor to local and national news outlets, providing down-to-earth insights on health and wellness, as well as sharing her psychological perspective on breaking news.

She has been featured on national television networks including CNN, HLN, ABC, CBS, NBC, News Nation, and WGN-9 Chicago. She is a blogger for the The Huff Post and Psychology Today, and has been quoted as an expert source in numerous print and online publications, including Family Circle, Web MD, Prevention, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Shape Magazine, Weight Watchers Magazine, Esquire, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, cnn.com, aljazeera.com, foxnews.com, and nbcnews.com.

Dr. Raja received the prestigious Society for Behavioral Medicine's 2020 Leading the Narrative Award, which recognizes one recipient for outstanding media work that communicates behavioral medicine science to a public audience.