From Newton to San Juan: Lucero Latino Mental Health Program Scholars Shine on a National Stage

In mid-October, when the annual conference of the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA) commenced in San Juan, Puerto Rico, William James College was well represented. In total, eleven current students and one recent graduate made the 1,600-mile trip due south to present slivers of their scholarly work via five poster presentations accepted from a pool of juried submissions. Following the group’s return to New England, a pair of conference participants shone a spotlight on the unique mental health needs of the Latino community and how William James College is working to meet them.

One Student's Journey

 “The Lucero Latino Mental Health Program (LMHP) at William James College, which no other graduate schools that I knew of were offering at the time, was my driving force in enrolling,” says Luisana Henríquez García, a third-year Clinical Psychology PsyD student who hails from Venezuela. The College checked additional boxes for Henríquez García, who has long aspired to work with the Latino community, including a chance to learn more about treatment, intervention, and neuropsychological assessments among the Latino population with clinical practicum training starting the first year. 

 “Being part of the Latino community has always been super important to me,” says Henríquez García who dove in head first and got a leg up in her studies by joining the LMHP program. In her first year of clinical training, Henríquez García provided individual and family therapy to adults and children in the Latino population; last year, she administered neuropsych testing in Spanish and Portuguese at Beth Israel; at present, she is knee-deep in defining big ideas as they pertain to her dissertation.

“These experiences have not only demonstrated the barriers to accessing and gaps in receiving care among the Latino population, but they have also reinforced what I’m passionate about doing with my practice going forward,” says Henríquez García whose current research focuses on the implications of stigma—based on pervasive negative assumptions about who someone is based on where they come from—in particular those affecting children. 

“Racialized stigma is intended to alienate,” says Henríquez García, pointing to a common experience among Latino students in school: “If someone speaks too loudly, all of a sudden the whole group is labeled as disruptive—with zero understanding of the different cultures from which students are coming,” says Henríquez García. 

The Steep Price of Stereotypes

For context, Mari Carmen Bennasar, PsyD, Director, Lucero Latino Mental Health Program, is quick to clarify that the entire concept of race is a social construct. 

“In the United States, [individuals from Latin America] become Latino for practical purposes,” she says of a system created to create difference and, by extension, oppress. In reality, individuals identify with their country of origin as opposed to the region at large: Bennasar, for instance, is Dominican-Spaniard. 

“The government created these categories for ease of grouping people,” she adds, underscoring that the term Hispanic arose in the 1970s for census purposes. Given this knowledge, coupled with first-hand lived experience, Henríquez García remains laser focused on the barriers that arise when folks are grouped into a race that does not exist. 

 “It’s easy to feel like a fish out of water,” says Henríquez García, sharing a realization that arose on the heels of the NLPA conference: Amidst an already low number of mental health practitioners pursuing doctoral work, even fewer are of Latino descent. This fact alone presents a significant barrier for folks seeking a psychologist who understands their culture and won’t bring preconceived notions about it into the therapy room. 

Reflections in Retrospect

The National Latinx Psychological Association, whose roots began in the 1970s, was formally reorganized in 2002; two years later, the inaugural conference was held in Arizona.

 “It has long been a dream of mine to take William James College students to the conference,” says Bennasar who regularly attends. Last year, she began brainstorming ways to make the trip financially feasible for students, offering funds from her budget as incentive to cover housing which can be very expensive. The group then moved onto phase two which included submitting presentations that, if accepted, came with a $250 travel reimbursement to further defray costs.

“We made a huge statement,” says Bennasar in a nod to another trio of students who met the group in San Juan. From attending workshops and making connections to presenting their work on a national stage, this was a huge opportunity for students. Individual experiences ran the gamut from a first-time conference attendee to a doctoral student being approached about a potential research collaboration.

“I was so proud, it’s hard to describe,” says Bennasar who—despite not taking any credit for their individual accomplishments—shared these sentiments with students during a post-conference debriefing session via Zoom during which there was much to celebrate.

“Getting a green light from the College, to cover our housing, was a great example of striving toward equity by reducing barriers,” says Henríquez García, given a price tag that was out of most students’ reach—especially those who are paying to earn their degrees. She cites the chance to learn together, while relaxing and enjoying one another’s company, as a huge highlight of the experience.

“Being in community, with folks who want to focus on the Latino population, was not only powerful but also motivating,” says Henríquez García, echoing an earlier sentiment: Especially in primarily white institutions, it can often feel as if one is alone on an island—a symptom of being Venezuelan, while living in the United States, that the LMHP has helped to alleviate for her. 

Beyond the food, hugging and Noche de Gala (complete with Latin dancing), this conference in particular proved a place where, according to Bennasar, “we can show up how we are and who we are.”

A Way Forward

When it comes to barriers, which exist on different levels from individual and cultural to those that are systemic and institutional in nature, Bennasar sheds important light.

“Our purpose is to reduce the barriers, to reduce the disparities, and increase the quality of service available to anybody and everybody regardless of [any defining factors],” she says, underscoring that the skills needed to work with diverse populations can be taught to anyone, regardless of their background. In fact, research shows that, all things being equal, if an individual is given the opportunity to work with a provider who they perceive as being culturally aware and culturally sensitive, they are more likely to pick that provider over one who shares their ethnicity but lacks these qualities. 

“I am not multiculturally sensitive because I’m Dominicana…I [have these skills] because I made an effort to educate myself, to immerse myself in different cultures, and to learn about others without pathologizing their behavior,” says Bennasar who began training in multicultural psychology beginning in her internship year; prior to arriving at William James College, she spent 15 years as Associate Director of the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology at Boston University Medical School.

“The key to equity is determining what the individual needs in order to succeed, and that varies from person to person,” says Henríquez García who, when she is not studying, works in the nonprofit world on project management. More often than not, when addressing quality improvement within health systems, there is a resounding (albeit erroneous) response: We treat everyone the same. 

“It goes beyond the racial-ethnic-geographical factors, which is why this training is for everyone,” says Bennasar who, in closing, offers a big-picture question that has guided efforts across the William James College campus—including all the various concentrations—of which she is very proud: 

“How do we infuse this kind of thinking, about diversity and equity, into every aspect of what we do? Regardless of where we're coming from,  how we define ourselves, or which concentration we are in, [the work lies in] understanding the uniqueness of people—and the intersectionality of all our identities.”

About National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA): For more than two decades, NLPA has been mission driven to create a supportive professional community that advances psychological education and training, science, practice, and organizational change to enhance the health, mental health, and well-being of Hispanic/Latinx populations. Interested in joining the conversation? An active Twitter/X account—@StudentsofNLPA—was made by students for students. 

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