Authority in Counseling Increasingly Diverse Populations to Speak at UMaine
Contact: Jeff Hecker, 581-2033; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — Gayle Iwamasa, Ph.D., a Visiting Libra Diversity Professor at UMaine and an internationally recognized expert on emic approaches to researching psychological difficulties among Asian Americans, and a full range of other diversity issues, will be on campus for her second Libra visit April 24-26 to speak with several university groups and present at a colloquium.
The public is invited to the colloquium from 3-4 p.m. on Monday, April 24 in the D.P. Corbett Business Building. The talk will feature Iwamasa’s National Institutes of Mental Health funded study examining successful aging among Japanese Americans. Most research on the impact of aging has centered on physical health and Iwamasa’s research is part of a growing trend in examining psychological well-being.
Iwamasa was invited to UMaine to consult with faculty and students in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program on diversity issues. While visiting, she has also been working with the UMaine psychology department this semester to share her insights with faculty members about acculturation, ethnic identity, women’s issues and professional clinical training. The goal is to make faculty, clinicians, psychology students and others more aware of issues arising in working with or teaching diverse populations, according to Douglas Nangle, professor of psychology and director of the clinical training program.
Hosted by the psychology department, Iwamasa will meet with several groups of faculty, the UMaine Counseling Center staff, student members of the Psi Chi honor society, and a Women in the Sciences Luncheon audience hosted by the Women’s Resource Center.
An associate professor in the community-clinical psychology Ph.D. program in DePaul University’s Department of Psychology, Iwamasa also serves as a consultant for the National Minority AIDS Council, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Council of Healthcare Advisors, among others. She developed DePaul’s first undergraduate Asian American psychology course and, at the undergraduate level, she teaches multicultural psychology and abnormal psychology.
Iwamasa’s research and clinical interests are in ethnic minority mental health, with a specific expertise in Asian American mental health. Her research on the mental health of Japanese American older adults has been funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health.
She also is a fellow in the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minorities and the American Psychological Association, and winner of that association’s Emerging Professional Award for Distinguished Contribution. Among her many publications are two recent books, “Culturally Diverse Mental Health: The Challenges of Research and Resistance” and “Culturally Responsive Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Assessment, Practice and Supervision.”
“Culturally Diverse Mental Health” addresses the challenge of counseling diverse populations including multiracial, homosexual, geriatric and disabled individuals. Because many clients of diverse backgrounds have entered therapy in the last two decades, old models of treatment based on the mainstream majority no longer apply. The book compiled the latest research on a widely diverse number of populations and addresses the issue of resistance to the need to modify old practices to apply to newer populations.