Hello folks,
On April 15, I met with a Conference Planning
Committee at The Chicago School of Professional
Psychology to discuss MALP's involvement at their
Cultural Conference this fall, which will highlight
Latino Mental Health Issues. I have attached a
preliminary flyer for the event that our fellow
member, Hector Torres provided. Hector is the
coordinator for the exciting new Latino Mental
Health Initiative at the Chicago School and is a key
coordinator of this conference being held in
September. They will be accepting proposals for
presentations soon, and I hope that MALP members
will submit proposals and participate to make this
an excellent gathering for students and
professionals. Hector and I will keep you posted on
developments.
On April 20, several MALP members and I attended the
Spring Meeting of the Association of Black
Psychologist at the South Shore Cultural Center. It
was an excellent meeting in which we discussed
mental health issues that affect Black and Latino
populations. We also discussed some of the
traditional barriers that have existed between the
two ethnic groups, stemming from at best,
indifference, and at worst, tensions arising from
competing goals. The consensus is that there needs
to be increased dialogue and collaboration between
Black and Latino psychologists. This was certainly
stated at the last meeting between our organizations
back in 2000 when Liz Vera, Rogelio Rodriguez, John
Benitez, and others arranged a meeting with ABPsi at
Loyola University. We hope that we can continue
this dialogue to increase awareness, provide better
service, and build stronger collegial
relationships. Among the topics discussed were the
increased violence occurring in some of the public
schools between Black and Latino students, such that
parents were refusing to send their children to
school. One of ABPsi's members, Sharon Bethea,
proposed that we hold a town hall meeting
co-facilitated by a knowledgeable Black and Latino
mental health professional. Dr. Bethea said she
would try to make this happen and if so, I will
inform you to see if there is any interest in
participating. Also, we discussed the possibility
of inviting ABPsi to attend a future MALP gathering.
Dr. Nieves Barrera is a physician who
holds educational discussions at Community
Health for Latino residents about Depression. She
would like a mental health professional to accompany
her in giving these talks. Gloria Balague has
volunteered to participate in these talks. We thank
her and hope she is available for the next meeting
which will be on June 24. If anyone else is
interested in participating on future dates, please
let me know and I will give you Dr. Barrera's
contact info.
These are some of the initiatives in terms of social
advocacy and community liaison work that we are
trying to accomplish. I remind you that we have
some committees that were put together to help reach
the objectives of MALP, and let me know if you are
interested.
Don't forget to visit our website and let us know if
your provider information is accurate. Send new
entries to our provider directory and any changes to
ytorres@ytorres.com
Hal Fuentes, Psy.D.
