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SUMMER 2026 • VOLUME 17
NEW CORE FACULTY: DR. KINJAL PANCHAL
Dr. Kinjal Panchal, Psy.D. (she/her) Assistant Professor
Dr. Kinjal Panchal is a clinician, educator, researcher, and advocate whose work centers on multicultural psychology, social justice, culturally responsive practice, and expanding representation within psychology. She earned her Doctor of Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, with a concentration in Diversity Studies. Her scholarly interests explore how culture, identity, spirituality, faith, community, and systems of power shape psychological experiences and mental health. She has a particular interest in historically underrepresented communities and topics including multicultural psychology, trauma, health psychology, identity development, resilience, and the intersections of culture and spirituality. She values both qualitative and quantitative approaches and views research as a tool for creating space for voices and experiences historically overlooked in psychology. Dr. Panchal has contributed to scholarship on South Asian American experiences and spirituality, including a chapter in Counseling and Psychotherapy for South Asian Americans: Identity, psychology, and clinical implications. She served as the 2025 Coalition of National Racial and Ethnic Psychological Associations (CONREPA) Leadership Fellow, representing the Asian American Psychological Association, and is currently curating an Art as Resistance gallery for the 2026 Asian American Psychological Association Convention. Her work reflects a commitment to culturally grounded and global perspectives while critically examining traditional Western frameworks and advocating for greater representation and social change. Clinically, Dr. Panchal uses a biopsychosocial and relational approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of mind, body, identity, family, community, and broader social systems. Drawing from Eastern psychological traditions and her work as a Vedic therapist, she emphasizes collaboration, strengths, and whole-person healing. Her clinical interests include depression, anxiety, identity development, sexual health and dysfunction, and complex trauma, with particular expertise in multicultural psychology, advocacy, and work with communities of color.
(312) 261-3036
www.nl.edu
Chicago, IL
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