Black mental health powerhouse and CEO of Onyx Therapy Group, Dr. LaNail R. Plummer is an author, educator, and speaker whose work centers on documenting, advancing, and expanding culturally responsive care for marginalized communities, specializing in Black women, children and the LGBTQ+. Through her writing, teaching, and clinical leadership, Dr. Plummer translates decades of both lived and professional experience into practical frameworks that reshape how healing is understood and delivered.

 

Author of best-selling book, The Essential Guide for Counseling Black Women (W.W. Norton, 2026), it serves as both a professional resource for clinicians and educators and as an accessible guide for Black individuals and families seeking affirming mental health support. The book reflects a gap Dr. Plummer witnessed throughout her career—the absence of mental health models that fully acknowledge and honor Black women’s lived experiences—and represents her broader commitment to making culturally grounded care visible, teachable, and sustainable. Named to 2026 Book Lists for Forbes, Ebony, and The Root, her debut release captures her over 20 years of experience in the mental health field. 

 

As the founder of Onyx Therapy Group, an internationally recognized mental health organization, Dr. Plummer leads a team of more than 40 BIPOC counselors and consultants dedicated to serving marginalized communities within Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana, with an international presence in South Africa. As an educator, Dr. Plummer has taught at Johns Hopkins University and currently serves as Department Chair of the Counseling Program at Trinity Washington University. She is also the creator of the Culturally Intersected Clinical Supervision (CICS) model, a framework that reflects many of the principles explored in her writing. 

 

A wife, mother of two adult children, U.S. military veteran, proud Howard University graduate, and lifelong member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Dr. Plummer is a sought-after voice on mental health equity and culturally responsive care. She has lent her expertise to stages such as the U.S. Black Chambers of Commerce, TEDx, Mental Health America, and New York University, and her insights have been featured in Forbes, TIME, Essence, Ebony, The Today Show, New York Magazine, and many more.

 

Across books, scholarship, and clinical leadership, Dr. Plummer’s work is guided by a clear mission: to create pathways to healing that honor culture, identity, and lived experience. With a nationally recognized platform dedicated to uplifting those in marginalized communities, Dr. Plummer continues to build a body of work designed to shape both the practice and future of mental health care.