Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu is a psychologist and writer, born in Tokyo and raised in Massachusetts. He received a doctorate in counseling and consulting psychology from Harvard University and was a Fulbright scholar in Japan. He is currently a consulting professor in the Stanford University School of Medicine, teaching in the Arts, Humanities, and Medicine Program. He is also on the faculty of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford and the School of Human and Organization Development at Fielding Graduate University.