In collaboration with Texas Juvenile Justice Department, we're part of their SEED Virtual Live Conference Event

This one and half-hour online session will provide information on the Hispanic and Latino Caribbean population and their specific mental health needs. In this workshop, we present the similarities and differences among the Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican cultures. These are the main Caribbean countries and the second, third, and fifth-largest population of Hispanic origin living in the United States. Language, traditions and customs, cultural values, spirituality, and the social, historical, and political context that led them to migrate to the United States will be discussed. The presentation will address the intersection of these factors with mental health and mental health treatment among Latinos of Caribbean descent.

Learning objectives:

• Describe similarities and differences among the Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican cultures.

• Describe language, traditions and customs, cultural values, spirituality, and the social, historical, and political context that led Latinos of Caribbean descent to migrate to the United States.

• Identify reasons to migrate to the US among Latinos of Caribbean descent.

• Describe cultural elements that make up the Hispanic and Latino Caribbean populations. 

• Identify views that individuals within the Hispanic and Latino Caribbean populations have regarding mental health services. 

• Discuss the cultural norms as strengths and challenges in the engagement of the Hispanic and Latino Caribbean populations in mental health treatment.

Who should attend? This is a basic level workshop designed for mental health providers and law enforcement personnel.

About the presenters: 

Javier Ramirez, MA, MA- Javier Nahum Ramirez Elias is a Nawat from his father's side and Lenka from his mother's side, born in El Salvador. He has earned two master degrees: one in Latin American Studies with the focus in History and Political Science of the region, and the second one in Cultural Anthropology with an emphasis in the diaspora and immigration process of Central Americans. Works with various community organizations providing health and social services to diverse communities in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Currently, he is the Program Director of Teen Family Services at El Nido Family Centers, and a Lecturer on Latin American Studies and Chicano Studies at California State University Los Angeles.

Isa I. Vélez Echevarría, PsyD- is a clinical psychologist. She obtained a certification as Interpersonal Psychotherapy Clinician, was trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Family Therapy, and Neurofeedback. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Community Services Institute in Boston, MA., where she provided home-based and school-based psychotherapy for communities of color. She is currently working as a clinical psychologist at A&R Behavioral Associates and as a Training and Content Specialist for the National Hispanic and Latino MHTTC, at the Universidad Central del Caribe, in Bayamon, PR.