Bryan S. K. Kim, Ph.D.

Professor, Chair of the Division of Social Sciences

Dr. Bryan S. K. Kim joined the UH Hilo's Department of Psychology in 2006 as an associate professor and was promoted to full professor with tenure in 2008. From 2008 to 2020, he served as the Director of the MA Program in Counseling Psychology. Currently, Dr. Kim is the Chair of the Division of Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Kim received the Ph.D. in Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology (Emphasis: Counseling Psychology) from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2000. He also has a Master of Education in School Counseling (1995) and a Bachelor of Education in high school science education (1992), both from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Honolulu. Dr. Kim is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (MHC196) in the State of Hawaiʻi.

From 2000 to 2002, Dr. Kim was a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at University of Maryland, College Park. In August 2002, Dr. Kim returned to University of California, Santa Barbara as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. In 2005, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure at UCSB.

Dr. Kim's research focuses on multicultural counseling process and outcome, measurement of culture-specific constructs, counselor training, and immigrant experiences. His current research examines the effects of culture-specific interventions and client enculturation/acculturation (e.g., cultural values) on counseling process and outcome. Dr. Kim's work has led to over 95 publications, including 9 psychological instruments, and over 110 presentations. Dr. Kim's interest in cross-cultural psychology largely stems from his experiences growing up in Hawaiʻi as a 1.5-generation Asian American.

Dr. Kim is the editor of The Counseling Psychologist , past editor of Asian American Journal of Psychology , and past associate editor of Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. He also serves as a Consulting Editor of _Journal of Counseling Psychology .

For his scholarly contributions, Dr. Kim has been awarded the Fellow status by the American Psychological Association (Divisions 17, 29, and 45), Asian American Psychological Association, and International Academy for Intercultural Research. He has received several research awards from the Society of Counseling Psychology, Asian American Psychological Association, and American Counseling Association. Recently, Dr. Kim was awarded the University of Hawaii Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching.