Psychological Services for Spanish Speaking Populations

TherapidincreaseintheHispanicpopulationintheUnitedStateshasresultedinagreaterneedforappropriatementalhealthservices,especiallyforthosewhorequireservicesinSpanish.TheOLLUpsychologydepartmentbeganofferingSpanishlanguagesupervisionofSpanishlanguagepsychologicalservicesinthemid-1980s.WeobservedthatmanystudentswhowereheritagespeakersofSpanishdidnottakeadvantageoftheopportunityfortrainingtoprovideservicesinSpanishbecausetheirSpanish“wasn’tgoodenough.”WealsoconcludedthatsupervisionalonewasnotsufficienttoproducegraduateswhowerefullycompetenttoprovideprofessionalservicesinSpanish.

Initially,wehiredavisitingprofessorfromMexicotosupervisetheSpanishlanguageteamatCCSandtoconsultwithfacultyregardingthedevelopmentofatrainingprogram.WeconductedsurveysofourbilingualgraduatestudentsandpsychologistsintheSanAntonioregion.Ofthe300bilinguallicensedpsychologistsinSanAntonio,only11actuallyofferedservicesinSpanish.Ofthese,theninewhorespondedtothesurveyallsaidthattheyhadreceivedinadequategraduateschooltraininginprovidingservicesinSpanish.

Onthebasisoftheestablishedneedandsurveyresults,theOLLUPsychologyfacultydevelopedthePSSSPprogram,whichfromitsinceptionhashadthegoaloftrainingmentalhealthprofessionalswhoareequallycompetenttoprovideservicesinSpanishandEnglish.

AuniquefeatureofthePSSSPprogramisthatthecorecoursesaretaughtinSpanishorbilingually.ThesecoursesincludeatechnicalSpanishcoursetaughtbyafacultymemberfromtheSpanishDepartment,acoursefocusedonservicedeliveryinSpanish,andacultureandlanguageimmersion

coursetaughtinMexico.AcourseinLatinoPsychologyisrequiredforalldoctoralstudentsandistaughtinEnglish.Studentsspendaminimumof8hoursperweekatabilingualpracticumsiteforfourconsecutivesemesters,includingonesemesterofsupervisedsupervisionofSpanishlanguageservice.OptionalpracticainMexicoorotherSpanishspeakingcountriesareavailable.Todate,morethan150studentshavecompletedtheimmersioncourseinMexico.

In2002theSubstanceAbuseandMentalHealthServicesAdministration(SAMHSA)fundedthedevelopmentoftheCommunicativeandCulturalCompetencyforMentalHealthProviders(CCC-MHP)trainingprogram.TheCCC-MHPprojectofferedtrainingtomentalhealthproviders.TheoutcomeevaluationfortheCCC-MHPprogramindicatedthatparticipantsgainedconfidenceintheirabilitytodelivermentalhealthservicesinSpanish,increasedtheircompetenceindeliveringservicesinSpanish,improvedtheirconversationalproficiency,andincreasedtheamountoftimetheythoughtinSpanishwhenconductinginterviewsinSpanish.TheCCC-MHPInstructorsManual,whichincludesaSpanish/EnglishGlossaryofTermscanbefoundonthepsychologydepartmentwebpageontheOLLUwebsiteatollusa.edu.

SinceimplementingthePSSSPprogram,thepercentageofHispanicstudentsadmittedtothePsyDprogramhasrisenfrom18%to42%.DatacollectedbytheAmericanPsychologicalAssociationindicatedthatHispanicscomprisedonly6%ofallincomingpsychologydoctoralstudentsin2002-2003.TheAPA2001EmploymentSurveyfoundHispanicscomprisedfewerthan5%ofthenewdoctoratesinpsychology.Since2002(thefirstyearthatstudentswhoenteredtheprogramaftertheinceptionofthePSSSPprogramgraduated),42%ofthePsyDprogramgraduateshavebeenHispanic.Also,since2002,78of198mastersdegreesinpsychologywereawardedtoHispanicstudents,representing39%ofthedegreerecipients.

Thecompositionofthefacultyinthegraduateprogramsisalsodiverse,includingfull-timeandadjunctfacultywhoarebilingualand/orculturallycompetentpractitioners.Currently,2ofthe5full-timefacultymembersinthePsyDprogramareHispanicand4oftheremaining7full-timefacultyinthePsychologyDepartmentareHispanic.AllfacultymembersinthePsychologyprogramarestronglycommittedtopreparingculturallycompetentpractitioners.

FacultyandstudentresearchandscholarshipincludetopicsrelatedtotheSpanishlanguageservicesandtrainingbilingualstudents.Facultyandstudentshavepublishedinrefereedjournalsandpresentedpapersorworkshopsatstate,regionalandnationalprofessionalmeetingsonourtrainingmodel.Todate,theprogramhasalsogeneratedfivedoctoraldissertationsdirectlyrelatedtoSpanishlanguageservices.TheAPAMonitorpublishedafeaturestoryontheprogram(http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb01/bilingual.html)in2001.ThePSSSPcertificatemaybeearnedasanelectiveconcentrationinboththeMSandPsyDprograms.Master’sdegreesareofferedinCounselingPsychology,SchoolPsychologyandMarriageandFamilyTherapy.

Department of PsychologySchool of Professional StudiesOur Lady of the Lake UniversitySan Antonio, Texas

Psychological Services for Spanish Speaking Populations

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OLLUwasabletoobtainfederalfundingtoexpandthetrainingtoundergraduatesandtopostgraduateprofessionals.Fundingforthedevelopmentoftheundergraduatebiliterate(duallanguageprograms)wasprovidedbytheFundfortheImprovementofPostSecondaryEducation(FIPSE).StudentsinthebiliterateprogramstakespecializedSpanishclassesandfulfillaportionoftheirgeneraleducationandmajor/minorrequirementsbytakingcoursestaughtinSpanish.InformationaboutthebiliterateprogramsisavailableattheOLLUwebsite.

New Faculty Profile: Carrie Castañeda-Sound, PhD

AftergraduatingwithmyPhDinCounselingPsychologyin2005,Ienteredthejobmarketwiththehopesofattainingmyfirstacademicposition.IwasecstaticwhenIrealizedthatOurLadyoftheLakeUniversityhadanopeningintheirPsyDprogram.AsagraduatestudentinUtah,IhadheardaboutthePSSSPprogramandevenconsideredattendingtheirsummerprogram.IjustknewIhadtoapplyforthepositioneventhoughitwouldtakemeevenfurtherawayfrommyfamilyinCalifornia.

AfterworkingwiththePSSSPprogramthelasttwoyears,Ihavewitnessedtheimpactsuchtraininghasonthequalityofservicesprovided.Beginningwiththeinitialphonecall,clientsareabletospeakwithatrainedSpanish-speakingtherapist.TheprocessoftherapyalsoisculturallycongruentforLatinos.Rarelyareindividualclientsseenfortherapy,insteadextendedfamiliesareabletoattendsessions.Finally,inmyexperiencetheSpanish-speakingclientsarereturningtosubsequentsessions,reflectingadecreaseinatraditionallyhighdrop-outrate.Unfortunately,thePSSSPprogramatOLLUisuniquewithinthefieldofpsychology.NotonlyisthereagreatneedforSpanish-speakingtherapists,butitiscriticalthatthesetherapistsbetrained.HopefullythePSSSPprogramwillserveasamodelfortrainingprogramsnationwide.

PsyD Student Profile: Mónica Escamilla, MS

SpanishismyfirstlanguageandalongwithmanyimmigrantsIstruggledwiththetranslationofnotjustlanguagebutofculturalpractices.AsmylifedevelopedinthisnewcountryImadeeffortstoholdontomyHispanicrootswhilelearningtonavigatethemajorityculturewithitsuniquebeliefs,practices,food,celebrations,andidiomsofthenewlanguage.DuringmygraduatestudiesIwasdrawntoOurLadyoftheLakeduetoitsuniquefocusonaddressingtheneedsof

Spanish–speakingpopulations.Iwasexcitedabouttheopportunitytolearnhowtoaddresstheneedsofthispopulationwithintheirworldviewandnotimposeonthemthefurtherstressofbeingmisunderstood.

ThetrainingIreceivedwasessentialinmygrowthasatherapist.WhileIwasawareofmyculturalpracticesandvaluesandspokethelanguageIhadbeenmissingkeypieces.Igainedaprofessionalvocabularythatallowedmetoappropriatelycommunicatetheoryandassessmenttermswithotherprofessionals

andclients.FurtherIlearnedaboutchoosingappropriatepsychologicalassessmentmeasures,modifyingthestructureofsessions,payingattentiontouniquefamilydynamics,andtheincorporationofcuentos,refranes,anddichosintherapysessions.

InowtakegreatpleasureinsharingwhatIhavelearnedwiththestudentsIsuperviseattheclinicandwhenspeakingatworkshopsandseminars.TheSpanish-speakingpopulationisquicklygrowingintheU.S.Understandingtheuniquechallengestheyfaceandlearninghowtousethedistinctivearrayofcopingmechanismandresourcestheypossesscanonlyenrichourwork.

PublicationsBiever,J.L.,Castaño,M.T.,delasFuentes,C.,González,C.,Servín-López,S.,Sprowls,C.&Tripp,C.G.(2002)TheroleoflanguageintrainingpsychologiststoworkwithHispanicclients.ProfessionalPsychology:ResearchandPractice,33,330–336.

Biever,J.L.,Castaño,M.T.,González,C.,Levy-Navarro,R.,Sprowls,C.,&Verdinelli,S.(2004).Spanish-LanguagePsychotherapy:Therapists’ExperiencesandNeeds.AdvancesinPsychologyResearch,Volume29(pp.157-182).Hauppauge,NY:NovaSciencePublishers.

Biever,J.L.,Bobele,M.,North,M.-W.,&Palmer,S.(2002).Therapywithinterculturalcouples:Apostmodernapproach.InMulticulturalcounseling:Areader.(pp.73-81):SagePublications,Inc.

Castaño,M.T.,Biever,J.L.,González,C.G.,&Anderson,K.B.(inpress).ChallengesofProvidingMentalHealthServicesinSpanish.ProfessionalPsychology:ResearchandPractice.

DissertationsCastaño,M.T.(2002).TrainingExperiencesofBilingualMentalHealthServiceProviders.

Espinosa,R.(2003).VoicesofWomenonaJourney:TheExperiencesofUndocumentedWorkersinLaredo,Texas.

Escamilla,M.(inprogress).HispanicFemaleAlzheimer’sCaregiversPerceptionsofCaring.

Márquez,B.(2005).UnderstandingMultipleRelationships:PerspectivesFromMexicanClientsAndTherapists.

Mata-Galan,E.(2003).AQualitativeAnalysisofUniversityStudentsfromLatinAmericanCountries.

Servín-López,S.(2002).ProfessionalDevelopmentofLatinaGraduateStudents:APhotographicPhenomenologicalStudy.

Sprowls,C.(2002).BilingualTherapists’PerspectivesofTheirLanguageRelatedSelf-ExperiencesDuringTherapy.

Verdinelli,S.(2006).NarrativesofBilingualCounselors.

Certificate Coursework Required

PSYC5377G Professional/TechnicalSpanish

PSYC8331 LanguageandPsychosocialVariablesinInterviewsand AssessmentswithLatinos

PSYC8356 NormalFamilyProcessesAcrossCultures

PSYC8430 Socio-culturalFoundationsofCounselingMexicansand Mexican-Americans

PSYC9356 LatinoPsychology

Practica Mustspendaminimumofeighthoursperweekata bilingualpracticumsiteforthreeconsecutivesemesters. AnoptionalpracticuminMexicoorotherSpanish- speakingcountrymaybearranged.

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