Building Infrastructure Through Training and Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Abstract

Establishing and maintaining a mental health infrastructure that accounts for the complexities and diversity within the Latino population provides a unique opportunity to envision culturally appropriate services and training. This chapter introduces the main structural issues present in mental health training, especially with regard to establishing a Latino educational pipeline to the mental health profession, and discusses the specific challenges related to training a bilingual and bicultural workforce. Examples of bilingual and bicultural training programs are highlighted, as well as the importance of promoting interdisciplinary collaborations that can lead to greater resources for education and training. Six recommendations for building infrastructure focused on training bicultural and bilingual mental health providers are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (chapter)