Germán Cadenas

Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology & Associate Director at Center for Youth Social Emotional Wellness
Clinical Psychology
Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology

Key topics

Immigration, immigrant mental health, immigration policy, social justice activism, youth mental health, critical consciousness, discrimination and racism, vocational psychology and workforce development, Latino/Latine/Latinx mental health

Sample talk titles:
- Promoting Mental Health Equity Among Immigrants Globally. Invited Speaker at the 17th Annual Psychology Day at the United Nations. https://www.psychologydayun.com/eventspeakers
- Thriving as a scholar-activist: setting intentions for action and collective healing. Keynote presented for the BIPOC Affirming and Mentoring program; Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Tulane University.
- Immigrants’ critical consciousness and psychological liberation. Keynote for Multicultural Research Symposium, New Mexico State University.
- Latinx Immigrant Health Alliance: Building community to foster equity. Group Keynote at the Texas Psychological Association Conference, San Antonio, TX.
- Empowerment and advocacy in career development with immigrants. Closing general session keynote address at National Career Development Association (NCDA) Global Career Development Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

Biography

Dr. Germán A. Cadenas (he/his/él) is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University. He also serves as inaugural Associate Director of the Center for Youth Social Emotional Wellness (CYSEW). Dr. Cadenas identifies as an immigrant from Latin America and his academic work is community-based, with intersecting foci on the psychology of immigration and on critical consciousness as a tool for social justice. This includes the development and validation of strategies to support the psychological wellbeing, education, career/work, and health of immigrants and other underserved communities. His advocacy and research have informed the implementation of policies and programs to support undocumented students in higher education at major universities. At the national level, he was among the leaders convened by the White House to discuss the Venezuelan diaspora in the U.S. Dr. Cadenas was among a team of scholars that briefed Congressional leaders on research documenting the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color. His testimony and scholarship are cited in a federal court case aiming to protect the humanitarian parole immigration program for certain Latin American countries. He is also serving as Associate Editor of Journal of Counseling Psychology, on the Advocacy Coordinating Committee (ACC) of the American Psychological Association, and he was recently appointed to the APA Presidential Task Force on Immigration and Health.

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