Dr. Bernadine Waller is an award-winning National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Translational Epidemiology and Mental Health Equity with a dual appointment at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is an implementation scientist who partners with faith-based organizations to tailor evidence-based interventions for African American women survivors of intimate partner violence.
Dr. Waller’s ground-breaking research is transforming the domestic violence service provision system. She developed the first theories in the country that identify help-seeking among African American women: The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior, Constructed Agency, and Sarah Waller’s Help-Seeking Model. Her scholarship has also been used to help shape the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and is currently being used to reshape domestic violence service provision system in New York City. Her research interest stems from more than a decade of practice and ministerial experience. She has provided trauma-informed services to IPV survivors, court-mandated offenders, and emerging adults. Dr. Waller is also a member of the ministerial team at Zion Cathedral Church, where she serves as a Deaconess, Assistant Sunday School teacher, a member of the intercessory prayer team, and leads the Restorer of Broken Walls, which provides crisis counseling and supports to IPV survivors.
Dr. Waller is a sought-after speaker who regularly shares her cutting-edge work with national and international audiences. Her TEDx Talk, Hindered Help, illuminates the barriers that preclude Black women from securing crisis assistance during their IPV help seeking process and is part of the required curriculum at several universities.
Dr. Waller earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work and a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from Adelphi University; as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with a concentration in Legal Studies from Temple University.
