The Journal of Latinx Psychology recently published an article focused on the underrepresentation of Latinx students in conference presentations.

Latinxs were less likely to be presenting at conferences, even when they were studying at Hispanic Serving Institutions [also note that HSI is a designation about how many Latinx students are enrolled in a college or university and does NOT mean that the college or university is serving their Latinx students in any meaningful way]. 

The Journal of Latinx Psychology recently published an article titled "Affect in anticipation of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in a sample of Latinx adults living on the U.S.–Mexico border: A daily diary study."

The article discusses how the time period leading up to the 2020 election, which was marked by lots of anti-immigrant and anti-Latinx rhetoric, was associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, and negative affect in a sample of over 100 Latinxs living on/near the US-Mexico border.

A recent article written by Marina E. Franco at Axios detailed the spiking suicide rates in Uruguay and how the country is working to combat this problem by offering free antidepressants. 

With suicide rates reaching record highs, Uruguay is starting a mental health plan in 2024

Latino Youth Beat Mental Health Stigma (And Other Headlines)

LAist published an article titled “Latino Youth Beat Mental Health Stigma”. The article discussed Brittany Flores and how her own struggle with generalized anxiety led her to want to help others with mental health struggles. 

Flores is a participant in “a new film project that aims to empower Latinx youth to become mental health advocates for themselves and others. The goal: to break long-held mental health stigmas in their communities by sharing their own stories.”

Welcome NLPA's 2024 President - Ana Bridges!

Read a welcome message from the president below. 

Welcome NLPA’s new Membership Chair, Alexina Pilo!

Psychiatry Online published a study on the “Downward National Trends in Mental Health Treatment Offered in Spanish: State Differences by Proportion of Hispanic Residents”. 

The objective of the study was to “determine how the prevalence of mental health treatment facilities that offer services in Spanish has changed over time in the United States.” 

 NLPA Member Highlight - Dr. Rachel Ocampo, Clinical Assistant Professor, CISA - School of Counseling and Counseling Psychology

NLPA welcomes Sandra Gomez as our new student member elect! 

The Elect Student Representative will coordinate with the Membership Committee to recruit and retain new student members, assist Current Student Representative on conference preparation and maintain communication with other NLPA communities (e.g., SIGS, and subcommittees) especially when they have student involvement.

On September 26, 2023 – NLPA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a new partnership to focus on improving the health and wellbeing of the Latinx community in the United States. 

This strategic partnership enables NLPA and HHS to work together more closely to facilitate information exchange and outreach, education, and research training opportunities. Together, we hope to more effectively take action to help enhance and increase care of Latinxs.

On January 9, 2021, NLPA contracted with Obsidian Consulting to conduct a self study
consultation with a three-fold purpose: I. Identifying strengths of the NLPA; II. Developing an
Implementation program that would outline steps and actions that NLPA can engage in moving
forward to explicitly address anti-Black racism in the organization; III. Providing an expanded
Organizational evaluation which involves examining past and current practices that have
attempted to combat anti-Black racism in the organization as well as those actions that may have
contributed to ongoing anti-Black racism.

Read the full report HERE.

NLPA recently endorsed a letter supporting legislation that would designate the Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse to be named after Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez – advocates that helped end segregation in California schools and paved the way for Brown v. Board of Education.

Read the letter HERE.

NLPA recently endorsed an advocacy letter crafted by the American Psychological Association focused on creating changes to existing non-lawful permanent resident (non-LPR) cancellation of removal rules.

Read the letter HERE. 

The National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA) is pleased to invite you to a guest lecture by Dr. D-L Stewart about Resisting Institutional Overreach: Understanding the SCOTUS Decisions on Affirmative Action on November 7, 2023, from 9am-10am MST. 

Dr. D-L Stewart joined the University of Denver in 2021 after 20 years of teaching, research, and service in colleges and universities focused on U.S. postsecondary education. His scholarship focuses on the philosophy and history of higher education, institutional transformation toward realizing equity and justice, and how higher education environments function within society and as a crucible for the learning and development of minoritized student, staff, and faculty populations. He received his B.A. from Kalamazoo College in Sociology & Anthropology and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Higher Education and Student Affairs and Educational Administration and Higher Education, respectively.

Hola NLPA familia,

I hope this message finds each of you doing well! I am looking forward to seeing many of you at our conferencia this October in Chicago!

NLPA member Dr. Cristalis Capielo Rosario recently gave testimony to the United Nations about the mental health impacts of colonization in Puerto Rico. Dr. Capielo Rosario’s argument for the psychological ramifications of Puerto Rican colonization included discussion of internalized narratives, perceived inferiority, and threats of depression and anxiety.

Dr. Capielo Rosario’s research indicated that self-determination could change the mental health aspect for Puerto Ricans by empowering the community and improving the population’s overall self-esteem. “I recently conducted a study in which I asked participants to imagine what would happy if the association between the U.S. and Puerto Rico ceased. The primary response was chaos. ‘We won’t be able to survive.’ ‘We’re going to die of hunger,’” Dr. Capielo Rosario explained in an Arizona State University interview, “But when asked in that same study how they would describe themselves and other Puerto Ricans, they said ‘we’re hardworking, we’re creative and we have a lot of assets.’ But it does not translate into the idea of self-determination. That’s a psychological phenomenon. We certainly have the economic and social resources to make it happen.”

NLPA warmly congratulates Dr. Lillian Comas-Díaz on her recent APA Presidential Citation from Dr. Thema S. Bryant. The citation was awarded to Dr. Comas-Díaz on the basis of her contributions and dedication to the field of psychology and society-at-large. 

Dr. Comas-Díaz is a clinical psychologist in private practice, and a clinical professor at the George Washington University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences. The former director of the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs of the American Psychological Association, she was a faculty member of the Yale University Department of Psychiatry, where she also directed its Hispanic Clinic. As a clinician-scholar-activist, Dr. Comas-Días has participated in fact-finding delegations investigating human right abuses in Chile, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and South Africa. The author of over 170 professional publications, Dr. Comas-Días has written extensively on the interaction of culture, gender, race, ethnicity,  social class, and spirituality in mental health. Some of her books include: Liberation Psychology: Theory, Method, Practice and Social Justice (co-edited with Edil Torres Rivera), Multicultural Care: A Clinician’s Guide to Cultural Competence; Womanist and Mujerista Psychologies: Voices of Fire, Acts of Courage (co-edited with T. Bryant Davis); and, Latina Psychologists: Thriving in the Cultural Borderlands (co-edited with C. I. Vazquez).  Her recent co-edited book with Hector Adames and Nayeli Chavez-Dueñas on Decolonial Psychology will be published in late 2023.  Dr. Comas-Díaz is a recipient of the American Foundation Association /American Psychological Association Gold Medal Lifetime Award in the Practice of Psychology.