Multicultural Counseling & Liberation Psychology

The workshop will provide the audience with the necessary tools to work with diverse populations using the principles and concepts of liberation psychology.

Objectives: 

• To familiarize the audience with multicultural counseling and liberation psychology concepts and definitions.
• To establish the connection between liberation psychology and multicultural counseling.
• To provide alternative intervention approaches from liberation psychology when working with multicultural populations.

About Dr. Edil Torres Rivera

Dr. Edil Torres Rivera is a professor and the coordinator of the Latinx Cluster at Wichita State University, Kansas. He is interested in multicultural counseling, group work, chaos theory, liberation psychology, technology, supervision, multicultural counseling, prisons, Puerto Rican studies, identity development, and gang-related behavior. Specifically, his primary research focuses on complexity and how indigenous healing techniques are necessary when working with ethnic minority populations in the United States. His work has appeared in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, Journal of Counseling and Development, Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling, Radical Psychology Journal, Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, Intervention in School and Clinic Journal, Counselor Education and Supervision Journal, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, Journal of Psychological Practice, Educational Technology, Computers in the Schools, Counseling and Values Journal, Journal of Technology in Counseling, and the Canadian Journal of Counselling. He was on the editorial boards of the Journal of Counseling and Development, Counselor Education, and Supervision Journal. Presently, he serves on the editorial boards of the Interamerican Journal of Psychology and the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology. Additionally, he is the co-editor with Lillian Comas-Diaz of the book “Liberation Psychology: Theory, Practice, and Applications” published by the American Psychological Association. He also authored the book “Latine Psychology: Beyond Colonialism” published by Springer.

Since 1995, Dr. Torres has presented papers at national and international conferences such as the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Association for Counseling Education and Supervision (ACES), the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW), National Latinx Psychology Association (NLPA), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Interamerican Society of Psychology (SIP). His invited presentations include North Carolina, College of Charleston, NC, Washington State, and New Hampshire workshops. He is the recipient of the Best Group Research Article of the Year (March 2000), the National Defense Service Medal (February 1990), the Army Commendation Medal (November 1986), the Army Achievement Medal First Oak Leaf (August 1986), a fellow at the American Counseling Association as well as the Specialists for Group Work, and the Ohana Award for social justice (March 2004).