Ryan E. Flinn

Biography

Ryan E. Flinn, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of North Dakota (UND) in the College of Education & Human Development (CEHD). They are supported by the CEHD Rose Isabelle Kelly Fischer Professorship (2024-2027). They also serve as Co-Director of the SAMHSA-funded Mountain Plains Addiction Technology Transfer Center (HHS Region 8) and the Director of the State Opioid Response/Tribal Opioid Response-Technical Assistance team for Region 8.

Ryan completed their master’s degree at the University of Detroit Mercy, their doctorate at New Mexico State University (internship at The Ohio State University’s Counseling and Consultation Service), and postdoctoral training in HIV/LGBTQ Health Psychology at the Medical College of Georgia where they provided behavioral health services in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clinics in Augusta, GA.

Ryan is active in American Psychological Association (APA) service as a Committee on Early Career Psychologists (CECP) member. Through this role, Ryan engages in efforts to represent early career psychologists on the Committee of State Leaders (CSL) and the Executive Board of Division 31 (State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Associations Affairs). Ryan also serves on the Early Career Professionals Committee of Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) and the Public Policy Committee of Division 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity). Ryan contributed as a research assistant to the revision of the APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Sexual Minority Persons (February 2021), co-author of the Statement Opposing Legislation Targeting Transgender and Gender Diverse People released by Division 44 (June 2023), and contributor to the APA Policy Statement on Affirming Evidence-Based Inclusive Care for Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Nonbinary Individuals, Addressing Misinformation, and the Role of Psychological Practice and Science (February 2024). Ryan also enjoys serving on the editorial boards of the Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, The Counseling Psychologist, and Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.

Ryan is a teacher, supervisor, advisor, mentor, advocate, clinician, and researcher. Ryan has trained and worked in Iowa, Nebraska, California, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Ohio, and Georgia. The National Institute on Drug Abuse supports Ryan’s research through mentored training grants at UCLA, Brown University, Brandeis University, and the Lighthouse Institute (Chestnut Health Systems). Ryan directs the Trauma, Substance, Justice, and Recovery Lab at UND. This lab aims to address the syndemic of trauma, substance use, legal system involvement, and HIV transmission, especially among sexual and gender minorities, people of color, and people with low income and economic marginalization. Please visit our website to learn more (https://education.und.edu/research/tsjr-lab.html)