Alphonso Nathan

Alphonso Nathan, also known as "Phonz the Therapist", is a licensed black male therapist, speaker, and author residing in the Philadelphia area. He is Vice President of Brightside Counseling, LLC and Co-Owner of Brightside Medical Associates. After fleeing their Native country of Liberia during the civil war in the 1980s, Alphonso's parents made their way to Staten Island, New York, making him a first-generation Liberian in America. Witnessing constant poverty and despair in his community, Alphonso knew that he would not be able to flourish in the environment that he lived in and was soon accepted into Milton Hershey School, a boarding school for underprivileged youth. It was there that he learned that interventions could change lives. After attending Milton Hershey School, Nathan obtained his Undergraduate in Psychology from Bloomsburg University and a Graduate degree in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Chestnut Hill College. Alphonso has a versatile background that has led to him specializing in helping individuals in a variety of areas, such as Depression. Anxiety, Anger Management, Life Coaching, Structural Family Therapy, Autism Spectrum-based disorders, and Sports Psychology. "The meaning of life is to find your gift, but the purpose of life is to give that gift away".- Pablo Picasso As a student of life, he continues to do his part in helping heal the traumatized society by working with organizations that align with his life's mission. Recently, Nathan has teamed up with Black Men Heal, an organization serving the Tri-State area, and The Boris Henson Foundation, founded by Taraji P. Henson, to offer free mental health services to the underprivileged black and brown communities of America. As a motivational speaker, Alphonso is sought after to speak on topics relating to "Cultural Appropriation in the Workplace", "Black Trauma and Healing", "Investing in your Mental Health", and "Black Men and Mental Health" throughout the United States. Nathan's book, "Practice Success: Steps for Building and Maintaining a Successful Private Practice", is a guide for potential private practice owners to retain success in the mental health industry and is available on amazon. Phonz continues to break generational curses as well as provide knowledge and mental health awareness to those who need it most. In the next 5 years, he hopes to reach more and more black and brown young men to break the stigma surrounding black men and mental health.