Nick Walker, Ph.D.
Our People

Nick Walker, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Blue Sky Leaders

Interdisciplinary Studies

Psychology

School of Undergraduate Studies

Pronouns: She/Her

Email: nwalker@ciis.edu

Biography

Dr. Nick Walker is an author, educator, transdisciplinary scholar, and futurist whose work explores the edges and intersections of somatic psychology, transpersonal psychology, queer theory, neurodiversity, and creativity. She is best known for her foundational work in Neurodiversity Studies and Neuroqueer Theory, and her influential essay collection Neuroqueer Heresies. She also writes speculative fiction, including the urban fantasy webcomic Weird Luck, and has co-edited multiple volumes of the annual neuroqueer lit anthology Spoon Knife. Dr. Walker is senior aikido instructor at the Aiki Arts Center in Berkeley, Managing Editor at the worker-owned indie publishing collective Autonomous Press, a Consulting Editor for the journal World Futures, a popular speaker on various facets of creative personal and social transformation, and a longtime practitioner and teacher of aikido, zen, and transformative embodiment work. She is currently core faculty in the undergraduate Psychology program at CIIS, and has previously taught in the Interdisciplinary Studies, Counseling Psychotherapy, and Somatic Psychology programs.

Research Interests

Somatic psychology, depth psychology, transformative learning, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, transpersonal psychology, transformative somatic practices, possibility studies, queer theory, neuroqueer theory, neurodiversity studies, critical autism studies, gender studies, human sexuality, creative writing, narrative inquiry, arts-based inquiry, autoethnography, speculative fiction, narrative and sequential art, comics studies, queer and neuroqueer literature, critical discourse analysis, ethics in research and professional practice.

Education

Ph.D. in Transformative Studies, CIIS  
M.A. in Counseling Psychotherapy, CIIS  
B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, CIIS  
A.A. in Liberal Arts, Berkeley City College

Courses

Human Sexuality  
Introduction to Neurodiversity Studies  
Psychodynamics  
Psychology of Gender  
Psychopathology & Psychological Assessment  
Research Methods  
Shadow Work  
Social Psychology  
Somatic Psychology in Theory & Practice  
Somatics & Society  
The Body Experienced, Conceptualized, & Verbalized  
Theories of Personality 

Publications

Walker, Nick, and Mike Jung, eds. Spoon Knife 7: Transitions. NeuroQueer Books, 2023.

Walker, Nick. The Use of Transformative Somatic Practices in Processes of Collective Imagination and Collaborative Future-Shaping. Routledge Handbook for Creative Futures, edited by Gabrielle Donnelly and Alfonso Montuori. Routledge, 2023.

Pukki, Heta, et al. Autistic Perspectives on the Future of Clinical Autism Research. Autism in Adulthood, vol. 4, no. 2, June 2022, pp. 93–101.

Walker, Nick. Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities. Autonomous Press, 2021.

Reichart, Andrew M., Dora M. Raymaker, and Nick Walker, eds. Spoon Knife 5: Liminal. NeuroQueer Books, 2021.

Walker, Nick, and Dora M. Raymaker. Toward a Neuroqueer Future. Autism in Adulthood, vol. 3, no. 1, March 2021, pp. 5–10.

Walker, Nick, and Bonnie Burstow. Autistic and Mad. The Revolt Against Psychiatry: A Counterhegemonic Dialogue, edited by Bonnie Burstow. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Walker, Nick, and Andrew M. Reichart, eds. Spoon Knife 3: Incursions. NeuroQueer Books, 2018.

Walker, Nick. Somatics and Autistic Embodiment. Diverse Bodies, Diverse Practices: Toward an Inclusive Somatics, edited by Don Hanlon Johnson. North Atlantic Books, 2018.

Danforth, Alicia, Charles S. Grob, Christopher Struble, Allison A. Feduccia, Nick Walker, Lisa Jerome, Berra Yazar-Klosinski, and Amy Emerson. Reduction in Social Anxiety After MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy with Autistic Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study. Psychopharmacology, vol. 235, no. 11, June 2018, pp. 3137–3148.

Walker, Nick. Calvin and Clay, the Protective Manipulations of the Unconscious, and Friends of Ambiguous Ontological Status. Afterword. Imaginary Friends, by Michael Scott Monje. NeuroQueer Books, 2016.

Walker, Nick. What Is Autism? The Real Experts: Readings for Parents of Autistic Children, edited by Michelle Sutton. Autonomous Press, 2015.

Walker, Nick. This Is Autism. The Real Experts: Readings for Parents of Autistic Children, edited by Michelle Sutton.

Walker, Nick. Foreword. Defiant, by Michael Scott Monje. Autonomous Press, 2015.

Walker, Nick, and Alicia Danforth. Treating Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults with MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy. MAPS Bulletin, vol. 24, no. 1, Spring 2014, pp. 7–9.

Walker, Nick. Throw Away the Master’s Tools: Liberating Ourselves from the Pathology Paradigm. Loud Hands: Autistic People, Speaking, edited by Julia Bascom. Autistic Press, 2012.

Walker, Nick. On Being Slippery. Towards an Archeology of the Soul, edited by Antero Alli. Vertical Pool, 2003.