Hello everyone,
My name is Maria
Pineros-Leano and I am originally from Bogota, Colombia. I moved to the U.S.
when I was 17 years old and I have been here in Champaign-Urbana ever since. I
majored in psychology and minored in Latino/ Latina studies and recently
completed a master’s in Social Work and I am currently in the Social Work PhD
program.
My research interests
deal primarily with Latina/o immigrants, obesity, and mental health. I became
interested on this topic as an undergrad since the lab I was working for mainly
dealt with the barriers that Latinos/as face when they try to access mental
health services. Then, when I transitioned into the master’s, I started working
with Latina immigrant mothers who suffered from depression. During this time, I
delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Spanish to different groups of Latina
mothers and I really enjoyed doing this. More recently, I became interested on
obesity and its prevalence among the Latino population, especially among the
second generation. My next challenge is trying to find a link between all my
interests, so if you have any ideas, please let me know!!!!
During the summer I will
be collecting primary data from the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program at
Champaign and I will specifically be looking at the prevalence of depression
during pregnancy, given that the literature on the antenatal period is rather
scarce. In fact, most of the literature available is on postpartum depression
and anxiety, even though women might develop these symptoms throughout their
pregnancy. Moreover, most on the information available regarding antenatal and
postpartum mood disorders is on middle-class White women; therefore, more
information is needed on low-income minority women to better address their
needs.
In a nutshell these are
my research interests. I am looking forward to know more about you and your
research interests,
Maria P.
Hi Maria,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you'll be working with WIC, its such a critical resource for low income women in this community...most of whom are women of color. I'm also glad that you'll be working on the pregnancy period, since the birthing process is so difficult and it requires such mental and emotional strength and support to just safely give birth.'
I totally see a link between all of your interests, and it seems from what you wrote you also make the link so well! Do meet me in office hours at some point though, so we can work together to map the links/details in a way that satisfies you more.
I visited Colombia in January of 2010. I landed in Bogota and traveled north to Raquila. I was with a researcher who was developing a framework for 'critical post-colonial psychology' as an alternative to cognitive behavioral therapy. Have you heard of it? Its most on indigenous approaches to therapy...very powerful stuff. Can't wait to talk to you more about this and hear how your research is going.
I look forward to hearing more about your research! I also think you've touched a great topic as Latinos have a higher birthrate in the US compared to other segments of the population.
ReplyDeleteHello Rushika,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear about your experience in Colombia and so interested about knowing more about "critical post-colonial psychology". This topic is completely new to me and it sounds great. I would love to hear more about it.
Maria P.