Mentoring the Parentified Child: The Professional Development of the Latina(O) Psychologist

Abstract

Psychology graduate programs actively recruit Latino students. Nonetheless, Latino students remain a minority in their classes, clinical training programs, and professions. Given the paucity of Latino faculty, Latino students are often asked early in their training to instruct others about their culture. Thus, Latino students’ professional development can include premature responsibility, role reversal, and isolation. This process reenacts the syndrome of the parentified child, a situation possibly familiar to the graduate Latina(o) student’s personal experience. Recommendations are proposed to attend to this process.