Exploring Latino/x Mental Health: Assimilation and Acculturation

Exploring Latino/x Mental Health: Assimilation and Acculturation

The Latino/x community in the U.S. often grapples with the processes of Assimilation (fully adopting the new, more dominant culture) and/or Acculturation (embracing the original culture and adapting to the dominant one) which can be challenging at best and painfully disorienting for many. This session focuses on the complex impact of these two processes on the behaviors, relationships, and values of first and second-generation Latino/x immigrants.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have~

• Identified aspects of Assimilation and Acculturation from the first and second-generation U.S. Latino/x immigrant perspective
• Explored the advantages and disadvantages of Assimilation and Acculturation experiences and the mental health impact associated with them
• Considered the stress of the immigration experience in relation to a sense of self, safety, and belonging

About the Presenter

Ysabel Garcia is a first-generation Dominican immigrant with a bold and ambitious mission to dive heart first into raw and honest conversations about mental health, equity, and suicide prevention. She is a social justice educator, skilled dialogue facilitator, wounded healer, and disruptor of systems of oppression.

She embodies her messaging and personality through Estoy Aqui LLC, a grassroots initiative that provides suicide prevention training and social justice education to organizations and institutions serving the Latino/x and Black community. Her main goal is to raise awareness of the underlying social, cultural, and racial factors that create conditions for suicide to exist in these populations.

She has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Bay Path University.