Candice N. Hargons, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Candice Hargons (she/her) is an award-winning associate professor in the counseling psychology program at the University of Kentucky, where she studies sexual wellness and healing racial trauma – all with a love ethic. She is the PI of the SAMHSA funded Neighborhood Healers Project, which seeks to advance mental health literacy and utilization among Black Lexingtonians. She is also a co-I on projects funded by NIDA, HRSA, and NIMHD examining substance use outcomes, treatment, and sexual health disparities. Additionally, she leads the Big Sex Study, a mixed methods, community-based participatory action research project investigating Black sexual wellness. She is a core faculty member of the Center for Health Equity and Transformation, as well as a faculty affiliate of African American and Africana Studies and the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies.
Dr. Hargons serves on the American Psychological Association Board of Directors (2021-23), and she is a Fellow in APA Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) and an APA Minority Fellow alumna. She previously served on the Kentucky Psychological Association Executive Board, the Society of Counseling Psychology Executive Board, and as Advocacy Chair for the Lexington Urban League Young Professionals. She earned an APA Presidential Citation (2019), and several other national awards for her social justice research and leadership.
Dr. Hargons teaches Diagnosis/Psychopathology, Ethics, Social Justice Consultation, and Practicum.
Research categories: Sexual Health, Social Justice, Racial Trauma, Qualitative Methodology, Psychophysiology