Y. Evie Garcia elected President of NLPA
Meet Dr. Garcia, licensed psychologist and associate professor at NAU
Y. Evie Garcia, PhD, ÐãÉ«Ö±²¥ Professor and Doctoral Training Director in Educational Psychology, has been elected to be the 2017 President of the  (NLPA). She will begin her term as President-Elect in January 2016.  Dr. Garcia has a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University and has been a Lifetime Founding Member of NLPA since 2004.  She has a good understanding of Latina/o psychology, having served on the NLPA Leadership Council for the last four years as the NLPA Delegate to the American Psychological Association (APA) Council of Representatives (COR) and for the last seven years as the Council of National Psychology Associations for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Interests (CNPAAEMI) Representative to the Leadership Development Institute which collaborates with other ethnic minority associations in training of Leadership Fellows to become familiar with the leadership needs of NLPA and train leadership skills from the perspective of Latina/o values and strengths.
Dr. Garcia’s interest in community assistance
As a licensed psychologist and a tenured associate professor, Dr. Garcia is deeply interested in issues related to training, practice, and research that affect Latino communities. Having previously served as the first Latina President of the Arizona Psychological Association she looks forward to advancing goals of Latina/o Psychology at a national level.
The need for qualified mental health services
The United States has one of the largest Spanish-speaking populations in the world, second only to Mexico (Tharoor, 2015). The need for mental health services tailored to the cultural and linguistic needs of Latinas/os is growing exponentially and NLPA serves a critical role in understanding and addressing the mental health needs of diverse Latina/o communities across the United States through training, educational activities, psychological services, and advocacy. Some of the key issues affecting U.S. Latina/os are pervasive and systemic discrimination that leads to disparities in education, health, policing practices, and financial opportunities; stresses around immigration; and the plight of undocumented children growing up in the U.S. with limited educational and career opportunities. Dr. Garcia’s initiatives include highlighting NLPA as a key resource for consumers, mental health providers, students, and legislators seeking to understand strength and resilience within Latina/o culture and develop methods for enhancing mental health and well-being in collaboration with Latina/o communities.
Tharoor, S. (2015, June 30). Chart: There are more Spanish speakers in the U.S. than in Spain. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com.