A Profile of Resilience and Representation: Our Students

The African and Caribbean Mental Health (ACMH) Program prepares graduate students to provide culturally responsive and socially informed mental health care to individuals, families, and communities of Black, African, and Caribbean descent.

Grounded in a strong commitment to cultural competence and social justice, ACMH emphasizes how race, culture, history, migration, and systemic inequities shape mental health experiences and access to care.

ACMH students are encouraged to examine their own identities and assumptions while developing skills to work effectively with diverse populations in clinical and community settings.

A key component of ACMH is cultural immersion and community service. Students participate in global mental health initiatives in low resource countries while also engaging in community-based service at the local level. These experiences deepen cultural understanding and reinforce the connection between theory, practice, and advocacy.

Looking ahead, ACMH is introducing a new course on Spirituality and Mental Health in Summer 2026 to address the enduring intersection between faith practice and psychological wellbeing. ACMH remains focused on expanding opportunities for experiential learning while continuing to prepare clinicians who are equipped to advance equity and culturally responsive care across mental health systems.

ACMH Faculty: Dr. Sasheen Hazel

Since its inauguration five years ago, the Asian Mental Health (AMH) Program has retained the pioneering mantle as the only such program in the country at the forefront of preparing the next generation of psychologists and counselors to serve Asian communities with excellence and empathy.

Asians are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, yet they continue to navigate formidable barriers to mental health utilization. Recognizing that Asian Americans and immigrants often face a unique 'access gap' in mental health care, our program bridges this divide.

AMH emphasizes a curriculum that prioritizes the impact of immigration, acculturation, and systemic racial bias on psychological well-being. By integrating rigorous clinical training with a focus on cultural humility, AMH empowers students to dismantle stigmas and provide effective, life-changing support in diverse community settings.

An important AMH accomplishment is its community focused response during the COVID-19 pandemic to a steep rise in racial discrimination, harassment, and physical assaults against Asian and Asian American youth. In collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, AMH developed a popular and influential guide to support parents with the skills needed to help their children navigate these experiences: Guide for Parents of Asian/Asian American Adolescents: How Are You and Your Children Talking about Racism?.

Looking ahead, AMH is committed to deepening our community partnerships and cultivating a new generation of leaders prepared to advance the gold standard of equitable and responsive mental health care.

AMH Faculty: Dr. Madison Natajaran, Dr. Shyamala Venkataraman, Dr. Ziyi Xiu

The Global Mental Health (GMH) Program prepares students to engage thoughtfully with mental health needs across diverse cultural, social, and economic contexts worldwide. GMH has built a strong foundation focused on cultural humility, ethical practice, and an understanding of how global systems, trauma, and inequality shape mental health and access to care.

GMH students are prepared for a new era of global stewardship. By examining mental health through the lens of international systems of care, the program moves beyond standard clinical training to emphasize the sociopolitical and cultural forces that shape wellness abroad. We empower our future clinicians to navigate underserved global settings with a sophisticated toolkit of culturally informed interventions and a deep respect for the diverse contexts in which they serve.

Our program’s strength lies in its commitment to applied pedagogy and bi-directional learning through global field experiences. By engaging directly with partners in regions such as Kenya, South Africa, Trinidad, Guyana, and Haiti, our students move beyond the classroom to witness the intersection of global health challenges and community-based resilience.

Moving into its next decade, GMH is dedicated to cultivating practitioners who possess the cross-cultural fluency and ethical rigor required to lead in an increasingly interconnected global society.

GMH Faculty: Dr. Omar Bah, Dr. Richard Mollica

For over two decades, the Lucero Latino Mental Health Program (LMHP) has been a national leader in addressing the severe underrepresentation of Latinx psychologists and mental health counselors in the United States.

Established in response to the need for well-trained providers and named in honor of Dr. Cynthia Lucero, a dedicated William James College graduate and community advocate who passed away in 2002, the program remains rooted in a vision of delivering culturally responsive care to Hispanic and Latinx communities.

Our comprehensive training model integrates rigorous coursework, immersive international (e.g., Ecuador) and local experiences, and hands-on clinical and organizational wellness practices.

The work is more critical than ever. While Latinos represent 1 in 8 people in the US, a figure projected to reach one in four by 2050, only 2% of psychologists identify as Latinx. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are focused on expanding access to culturally responsive services while preparing the next generation of bilingual, bicultural providers.

Through the Cynthia Lucero Scholarship Fund, which provides up to $15,000 annually, we support scholars committed to our mission. Scholars serve as WJC ambassadors at community events and Latino mental health conferences, a tradition we proudly we plan to expand.

LMHP Faculty: Marta Pagan-Ortiz Juan Enrique Rosario Jr

In 2016, we inaugurated the Black Mental Health Graduate Academy, to increase our recruitment and retention of Black students – Academy Scholars – in WJC’s master’s and doctoral degree programs.

The Academy, developed and directed by Dr. Natalie Cort, provides Scholars with empowering professional enrichment opportunities and socioculturally reparative mentorship to diminish racism’s personal impact and to enhance professional success.

As of November 2025, the Academy has had 86 Scholars. Most are of Caribbean (e.g., Haiti) and African (e.g., Nigeria) first-generation immigrant families and they represent a wide range cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and economic backgrounds.

Scholars have increased public awareness of mental health in the Black community as presenters and panelists on television shows and podcasts (e.g., WGBH-TV Show "Basic Black;" Black Mental Health Matters Podcast).

The Academy’ Psychology Today Blog, written by Scholars, has been viewed more than 42,000 times. A sampling of the blog posts are: Stereotyped and Devalued: The Story of Black Children; Black America: Psychological Costs of Economic Inequities; Transracial Adoptions During the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Due to it's innovation, the Academy is a proud recipient of a competitive award from the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology.