Culture, Language of Latinx Community Honored in Rural Psychiatry Conference

Abstract

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article CommunityFull AccessCulture, Language of Latinx Community Honored in Rural Psychiatry ConferenceKatie O'ConnorKatie O'ConnorSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:26 May 2023https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.07.7.6AbstractThe conference, which focused on the various challenges and opportunities in providing mental health care to the Latinx community, was delivered entirely in Spanish. Jose Canaca, M.D., began the 2023 University of New Mexico Rural Psychiatry Virtual Spring Conference by announcing in Spanish, “Today, we are doing something special.” This year was the first that the annual conference was delivered entirely in Spanish, with English subtitles available for non-Spanish speakers. The decision to hold it in Spanish was made to “celebrate the Latino culture and to feel proud of everything we have achieved and everything we are going to achieve in the near future,” Canaca said. “Wherever in the world there is a Hispanic, a Latino person, there is a hard-working, honest, and honorable person. We want to highlight that,” said Jose Canaca, M.D.Canaca is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and medical director of the university’s Rural Psychiatry Program.The conference, which was held in early May, was titled “Speaking Our Language; Learning Together About Mental Health to Serve Our Community.” It was organized by the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health with support from the APA New Mexico district branch, the Psychiatric Medical Association of New Mexico. The conference began with a presentation from Thomas Chavez, Ph.D., a research assistant professor at the University of New Mexico. Chavez gave a history of the Latinx community in rural New Mexico, highlighting how their identities, cultural practices, and values have developed throughout history. New Mexico has a population of over two million, he explained, with 32% of that population living in rural areas. Further, half of the state’s residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, “but these identities are more complicated than that,” Chavez said. Throughout the conference, presenters and participants explored the complex nature of identity and how it has been impacted by efforts to force assimilation, such as by shaming individuals for speaking their native language.Chavez outlined some of the mental health challenges facing the Latinx population in rural New Mexico. Young people struggle with hopelessness and depression that have the potential to lead to suicidal behavior, he explained, and experience risk factors such as sleep problems and sexual violence. Depression is also a concern among adults, with stressors including unemployment and adverse childhood experiences.During the conference, Esperanza Diaz, M.D., and Andrea Mendiola, M.D., presented on the barriers to mental health care for Latinx people. Diaz and Mendiola are professor and assistant professor, respectively, of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. Diaz is the medical director of the Connecticut Mental Health Center’s Hispanic Clinic, which provides culturally appropriate and recovery-oriented mental health and addiction services to the Latinx community. Mendiola was the inaugural recipient of the Hispanic Psychiatry Fellowship at Yale, which Diaz proposed and founded.In the creation of the Hispanic Clinic in 1973, the founders had to take into account the specific barriers that the Latinx population face, including poverty, homelessness, violence, language barriers, and racism. The staff is fully bilingual, from the front-desk staff to the therapists. Insurance or documentation is not required to receive services, and a pharmacy provides some free medications for those who cannot pay. The staff are specifically trained to provide psychotherapy to the many immigrants who seek care at the clinic, many of whom have experienced various traumas. “Treatment is a long, painful, slow process because they have left their families and cannot return, and many years have gone by without being seen. Psychotherapy is crucial,” Diaz said.“Although there is a lot of diversity in the Hispanic culture, we share many customs and beliefs, and that helps a lot in connecting and being able to help our patients,” Mendiola said.Other presenters during the conference included Reyna Rivera, L.C.S.W., faculty instructor at New Mexico Highlands University; Brenda Quiñonez, L.C.S.W., board president of El Puente de Encuentros, a nonprofit that mentors students of diverse backgrounds in the mental health field; and Bill Wagner, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., executive director of Centro Sávila, which provides culturally and linguistically appropriate services in New Mexico, including to first- and second-generation immigrants. Participants also heard from therapists with Centro Sávila—Ivette Miramontes, L.P.C.C., Dulce Medina, L.C.S.W., M.B.A., Sonia Ramirez, L.M.S.W., and Diana Hernández, L.P.C.C.—and the organization’s access and analytics manager, Sofia Olay, B.A. Throughout the conference, both presenters and participants commented on how important and unique it was to have the conference entirely in Spanish. “Let’s feel proud of who we are, of our language, of our culture, and where we come from,” Canaca said. ■ResourcesRecording of conference ISSUES NewArchived