A Borderlands View on Latinos, Latin Americans, and Decolonization: Rethinking Mental Health

Latinos in the U.S. and Latin Americans are a combination of diverse populations that differ on a range of factors including length of time in the country, migration background, ethnicity, geographical location, socio-economic status, and so on. The reader will find perspectives of those of us who live in the borderlands-that is, those of us whom Gloria Anzaldúa identified as Mestizas, who inhabit the intersticios, the spaces in between souls, minds, identities, and geographies. This book assists new generations of Latino/as and of those involved in Latino Culture and Latin America in understanding how the colonization of the Americas is still tied to current issues of migration from the South to the North and how mental health practices have been created and maintained from the wound of coloniality. It offers a rich and alternative foundation for approaching trauma, identity, and resilience through the integration of a decolonization paradigm, borderlands theory, and social justice approaches in couple and family therapy.

Pilar Hernández-Wolfe, PhD, is an educator, researcher, therapist, speaker, author, consultant, and community organizer. She is Associate Professor and Director of the Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy program at Lewis & Clark College. She is past president of the Maryland Association for Counseling and Development (MACD) and board member of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA). She is a licensed marriage and family therapist and American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) approved supervisor. She has authored or co-authored over forty peer reviewed article and book chapters in English and Spanish.