President Obama expressed the importance of having an educated workforce in the world by having the highest proportion of college graduates of any country by 2020. Our future as a country, and one of the most critical ways to decrease gaps in our continued educational decline, is to inextricably link the United States future with that of the Latina/o community. As the Latina/o community continues to be the largest and fastest-growing ethnocultural group in the U.S., it is essential that our educational and organizational systems become proactively engaged in developing entry points for more Latina/o individuals to enter our systems. An increased Latino behavioral health leadership and workforce ensure more health equity and a continued reduction in the elimination of health disparities.
To address these issues, Thursday, January 17th from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at the Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, 633 East Cabrillo Boulevard, Santa Barbara, CA 93103, Fielding Graduate University presents a free and open to the public presentation: Liberating Latina/o Communities through Education: Developing a Latina/o Behavioral Health Workforce by Dr. Miguel Gallardo.
Dr. Gallardo will discuss the public health crisis facing the Latina/o community due to poor access, a lack of a bilingual and bicultural behavioral health workforce, and the inseparable link between wellness and justice in our for Latina/o communities.
Miguel E. Gallardo, PsyD:
Dr. Gallardo is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Aliento, The Center for Latina/o Communities at Pepperdine University and a licensed psychologist. He maintains an independent/consultation practice where he conducts therapy with adolescents and adults and consults with organizations and universities on developing culturally responsive systems. He teaches courses on multicultural and social justice, intimate partner violence and professional practice issues. Dr. Gallardo’s areas of scholarship and research interests include understanding the psychotherapy process when working with ethnocultural communities, particularly the Latina/o community and in understanding the processes by which individuals develop cultural awareness and responsiveness. Dr. Gallardo is currently Director of Research and Evaluation for the Multiethnic Collaborative of Community Agencies (MECCA), a non-profit organization dedicated to serving monolingual Arab, Farsi, Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish speaking communities. Dr. Gallardo has published refereed journal articles and book chapters in the areas of multicultural psychology, Latina/o psychology, and ethics and evidence-based practices. He co-edited the book, Intersections of Multiple Identities: A Casebook of Evidence-Based Practices with Diverse Populations and is co-author of the book Culturally Adaptive Counseling Skills: Demonstrations of Evidence-Based Practices.
Dr. Gallardo is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He has established a presence among psychology’s many associations including the American Psychological Association (APA), California Latino Psychological Association (CLPA), the California Psychological Association (CPA) and the National Latina/o Psychological Association (NLPA). Dr. Gallardo is a past-chair of the Committee of Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) of the APA and is a past-president of the California Psychological Association (CPA). Dr. Gallardo is one of the founding members and served as the first president of the California Latino Psychological Association and continues to be active in psychological organizations on the state and national levels. Dr. Gallardo is currently serving a two-year Governor appointed position on the California Board of Psychology. He has been honored for his dedication and commitment to the field of psychology locally, statewide and nationally.
For more information and to register, please visit: www.fieldingeducationalserieswinter2013.eventbrite.com