About Dr. Aprilia West
psychologist, executive leadership and team coach, trainer and organizational consultant
"Dr. APrilia west is A leading expert in positive psychology and behavior change"
Dr. Aprilia West is a psychologist, coach, trainer, organizational consultant and professional fellow at the Institute of Coaching at Harvard. She has 20+ years’ experience working with founders, leaders, artists/creatives, teams, and organizations spanning U.S. Congress, tech, entertainment, Fortune 500 companies, policy initiatives, and nonprofit advocacy campaigns.
Blending contextual behavioral science, emotion science, and neuroscience with positive psychology, Dr. West offers evidence-based therapy, coaching, consulting and training for individuals, leaders, teams and organizations to improve wellbeing, creativity and performance.
Dr. West is internationally recognized for her expertise in psychological flexibility, emotional efficacy, decision-making, and behavior change. As a trainer, she specializes in the application of contextual behavioral science for clinicians, professional coaches, and helping professionals around the world. She is also known as an advocate for prosocial evolution, including nudge initiatives that encourage behavior that improves wellbeing and civil society.
Dr. West has authored several books and peer-reviewed articles related to psychological flexibility, emotional efficacy and decision-making including ACT for Your Best Life (2023), What You Feel Is Not All There Is (2021). She is also coauthor of the guide to Emotion Efficacy Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Coaching in the Workplace in Positive Psychology in the Workplace (Springer 2021).
Prior to training as a psychologist, Dr. West served as a policy analyst, communications director, speechwriter, and press secretary on Capitol Hill, where she advised U.S. Members of Congress on a wide range of issues, including leveraging their leadership positions to advocate to promote civil society. She also founded and directed two bipartisan initiatives: the Project for Social Entrepreneurship and The Initiative for Children, focused on identifying evidence-based, replicable programs for socio-economically disadvantaged individuals, families, and children.
In addition, Dr. West has worked as an advisor and media consultant on several international and national policy initiatives and advocacy campaigns to make complex issues relatable and actionable for U.S. members of Congress and the public, including congressional redistricting, climate change and human rights.
Dr. West is credentialed as a professional certified coach (PCC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She is also a Rule-31 certified mediator with training from Harvard Law School’s negotiation and conflict resolution program. She was a founding member and past president of the Southern California chapter for the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), and is a member of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making (SJDM) and the Society of Consulting Psychology (Division 13) of the American Psychological Association.
“Aprilia has a gift for illuminating complex evidence-based ideas.”
—DR. TODD KASHDAN, PHD, director of the Wellbeing Lab at George Mason University and author, The Art of Insubordination
Listen to Dr. West Live
Dr. West is frequently invited to appear on podcasts to speak about issues related to human behavior, psychology, coaching and psychotherapy, wellbeing, elite performance, positive psychology, emotional efficacy, mental agility, psychological flexibility and organizational culture and health.
