ABSTRACT
This chapter relates the trajectory of a Latina born and raised in Argentina in an uneducated immigrant Jewish family from Eastern Europe. She describes how growing up in cultural borderlands of class, education, language and accent, religion, gender, ethnicity and given names shaped both her strengths and her vulnerabilities to cultural exclusion in her country of birth but particularly in the U.S. after migrating as a young adult. The metaphor of roots and wings is used to capture overcoming obstacles and cultural adherence in her decision to concentrate her theoretical work, clinical practice and research on Latinx immigrants. Professional experiences and sociopolitical engagements propel her to a conviction that culturally attuned work needs to be family and community oriented. The chapter describes her moving away from monolithic stereotyped views of Latinos and how, instead, she develops a multidimensional ecological model that allows for variation and complexity of journeys in-between cultures and migration, a model now widely used in training and supervision. The chapter ends with the author’s currently coordinating the work of volunteer mental health professionals in a free health clinic for uninsured and underserved Latinx, and her being part of creating the first local Latinx mental health organization in her city.
