Diane C. Placide is a licensed professional mental health therapist practicing in Washington, DC who is committed to empowering youth be proactive about their mental health and help them to achieve mental wellness for positive functioning. She also strongly believes in helping youth to build personal and psycho-social skills to increase college success. Diane earned her B.S in psychology from Towson University and a Master of Education in School Psychology and Counseling services from Howard University.

Diane currently practices at a non profit agency in DC, where she serves minority children, youth and families from low-income communities. Her experiences include counseling, developing and facilitating therapeutic groups such as “YOUnique Smile”, which helps young girls build confidence from within, and working with John Hopkins’ summer A.C.C.E.S.S Program, which is geared toward increasing psycho-education among high school students to achieve college preparedness.

Diane's specialty includes working with minority families, children and youth who are dealing with depression, anxiety, grief and trauma. Her passion in helping, motivates her to continue advocating beyond her day to day job through her volunteer work with other local organizations such as Distant Relatives and House of Ruth. Her interest and involvement in researching topics such as ethnic/racial Identity, colorism and academic achievement has afforded her the opportunity to co present along with Dr. Charla McKenzie at the 2018 Eastern Psychological Association. Diane’s latest project, "Empowering Young Excellence", will allow her to continue her efforts to increase knowledge and awareness of mental health (mental illness and wellness) among minority populations from at risk communities. With EYE Diane plans to extend the topic of mental health to a more strengthening base asset model rather than a deficit model.