Elsie Jones-Smith is a Clinical Psychologist, a Licensed Psychologist, a Counselor Educator and the President of the Strengths-Based Institute, which provides consultation to schools and organizations dealing with youth experiencing challenges with violence, lack of a sense of purpose, and drug addiction. She is a Diplomate in Counseling Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association in two divisions, the Society of Counseling Psychology and the Society of Ethnic Minority Issues. She holds dual PhDs - in Clinical Psychology and Counselor Education. She is the author of the recently published book Nurturing Nonviolent Children,… the soon to be published, Spotlighting the Strength of Every Student and the co-author of Group Counseling: Theory and Process. She has been a professor at Temple University, Michigan State University, University of Buffalo, and Boston University. Dr. Smith has served on numerous editorial boards, including the Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, and Counselor Education and Supervision, the Vocational Guidance Quarterly, and she has served as the guest editor for The Counseling Psychologist and Urban Education. She is the developer of two theories in psychology: The Strengths-Based Counseling Model (which was nominated for the outstanding article of the year for 2006 for The Counseling Psychologist) and Ethnic Identity Development (which The Counseling Psychologist featured as a major contribution to psychological research in 1985). In her spare time, Dr. Smith writes poetry, and she is currently working on a novel.