New Center for Latino Mental Health at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Addresses Growing Need for Psychology in the Service of Latino Communities

Latinos represent the nation’s largest and fastest growing ethnic group, yet there remains a striking lack of knowledge regarding the unique mental health needs facing the Latino population—and a troubling shortage of culturally competent mental health professionals prepared to meet those needs. To help address this issue, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology has started a new Center for Latino Mental Health. Formally introduced today at the school’s annual Cultural Impact Conference, the center will work to bolster understanding of and access to culturally competent mental health services through scholarly research, community service, and education.

“Latinos account for only 1 percent of U.S. psychologists,” said Chicago School President Michael Horowitz in his opening remarks to the conference’s more than 600 attendees. “We asked the questions: ‘What does the Latino community need and how can we help?’ We started with dialogue, not with prescriptions. The aim of this center is to learn more about the issues and needs at hand while putting the people and programs in place to address the shortage of mental health professionals trained to work with the Latino population.”

Citing figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council of La Raza, President Horowitz used the forum to make a case for more attention on the issue. “

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