Immigration and Mental Health
Melba Vasquez
Thursday, 16 Apr 2015 at 7:00 pm – Sun Room, Memorial Union
Melba Vasquez is a past president of the American Psychological Association and led the organization's national taskforce on how immigration affects the mental heath status of immigrants and their children. Vasquez, the first Latina to serve as president of the APA, is a first-generation college graduate and taught middle school before pursuing a graduate degree in counseling psychology. She has worked as a psychologist in the university counseling center at the University of Texas, taught in the counseling psychology programs at Colorado State and Texas, and is currently has a private practice. She is the author or co-author of many works on ethics in psychotherapy and multicultural therapy.Vasquez received her doctorate from the scientist-practitioner counseling psychology program at the University of Texas. She has served on the APA Board of Directors and in various roles in APA governance, including as member or chair of a dozen APA boards, committees and task forces. Her experience initiating new, major projects include co-founding the National Multicultural Conference and Summit. During her term as president, she supported three major initiatives: The APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration, the Presidential Task Force on Preventing Discrimination and Promoting Diversity, and the Presidential Task Force on Educational Disparities.
Cosponsored By:
- Anthropology
- College of Human Sciences
- Division of Student Affairs
- History
- Mexican American Young Achievers Society - MAYAS
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Student Counseling Service
- U.S. Latino/a Studies Program
- Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
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