Clinician Cameo: Championing Puerto Rican Pride and Latinx Resilience
The Clinician Cameo is a monthly interview series with a clinician in the Brown Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (DPHB).
Von Marie Rodríguez-Guzmán, Ph.D., is a graduate of Brown's Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program, where she developed a research interest in cultural factors affecting Latinx resilience. She is currently a staff psychologist at Clinica Latina, a mental health clinic for the Latinx community in East Providence, and a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior.
Rodríguez-Guzmán talks with DPHB about her unexpected route to Brown, academic and cultural differences between her native Puerto Rico and the continental U.S., and the irresistible allure of Legos.
What led you to do your postdoctoral fellowship at Brown?
My initial plan was to complete an internship in the U.S. and return to Puerto Rico, where I’m from. I did my internship at NYU Langone. Single and living in New York, I joked that I’d end up with an Italian boyfriend or husband. But I happened to have a college friend living in Rhode Island and when I visited, his friend picked me up from the bus station. Like my friend, this guy was an engineer who’d been recruited from Puerto Rico to work at the Newport Navy base. We ended up getting married. That’s how I came to Rhode Island and started looking for jobs as a psychologist.
I did the postdoctoral fellowship at Brown, my second postdoc, because I wanted more experience doing research and publishing scientific articles. I wanted to catch up with my North American peers since my education was from Puerto Rico and I didn't have publications then.
How is psychology education in Puerto Rico different from in the United States?
In the continental U.S., it can feel like your worth is determined by your publications. In Puerto Rico, publications can help you advance but aren’t a determinant for getting hired or getting tenure. Other metrics matter more, like your work with students, mentorship, connections, and courses. There are also different requirements to practice clinical psychology in Puerto Rico. They don’t require a postdoc and offer two options for licensure – the EPPP or a more local, culturally specific test in Spanish.
Don’t get me wrong: The Puerto Rican programs are APA-accredited. We just don’t have as many venues to publish or connect with highly published mentors.
In the continental U.S., it can feel like your worth is determined by your publications. In Puerto Rico...other metrics matter more, like your work with students, mentorship, connections, and courses.
Dr. Von Marie Rodríguez-Guzmán
Did your fellowship at Brown help you adjust?
My mentor, Dr. Nicole Nugent, was so supportive. She and her lab helped me explore Providence, get to know new restaurants, and connect with other postdocs who are now friends.
She also helped me navigate the Brown system, introducing me to people who could help with my research and clinical interests. One day, she said, “I have someone in mind who could help you. Have you heard of Dr. Yovanska Duarté-Vélez?” She’d been my professor in Puerto Rico, and I didn’t even know she was at Brown! She’s another person who helped train me not only in research, but also in meaningful research attached to my interests and values.
What are some typical mental health concerns you see at Clinica Latina?
I’m seeing difficulties with navigating acculturation and generational differences in acculturation. Now that we’re getting closer to Christmas, we tend to get more individuals reporting nostalgia or depression because we’re far from our families and celebrating in a different way.
Clinica Latina’s clients represent many different cultures. Does that come into play clinically?
Spanish speakers are often treated as a homogenous group. But I once tried to translate for a client from Colombia and realized, “I thought I knew Spanish until now.” Despite being Latina, I continue to grow and learn more about all groups labeled Latinx.
In my initial evaluations with clients, we explore commonalities and assess their comfort level with the language and system. If we don’t have a similar immigration story, another colleague might. I’m from Puerto Rico, the other psychologist is from Nicaragua, and the psychiatrist is from Colombia. In weekly case discussions, we’re a highly collaborative team focused on the support and treatment a patient needs.
You’re interested in resilience in Latinx populations. What have you found?
When I worked with Nicole Nugent, I wanted to know: Is there anything particular about a culture that can affect resilience? For example, Latino populations can be very family-based. Religion and community connections are important.
We didn’t have enough participants for a quantitative study, but we published a paper using data from people’s Twitter conversations in the year after Hurricane Maria. We found that a community base was very important in the aftermath of trauma or at the anniversary of a traumatic event – coming together to demand government action, asking for help, helping others, and connecting with Puerto Ricans in the United States.
How would you characterize the state of Spanish language mental health services locally?
After postdoc, I worked at Providence Community Health Centers, which provides a broad network of Spanish IBH [integrated behavioral health] services, among other health services. Lifespan is also expanding IBH services throughout its primary care clinics in areas with large Latinx populations.
I worked for a few months as an IBH provider in the Chapman Street MedPeds clinic, which is strategically located in a Latinx neighborhood. They have important services – for refugees, for example – but I was the only Spanish-speaking psychologist at the time.
Another important resource is Dr. Duarté-Vélez’s youth clinic [Mi Gente Program]. Sometimes, she refers adult family members to Clinica Latina.
We’re improving access for Latinx populations, but we need to do much more. We could benefit from more Spanish-speaking clinicians, centralized services, and more connections with community groups.
What would you want your colleagues to know about Puerto Rico or its culture?
Not to get too political, but it’s important to create more awareness of how we’re considered a colony of the U.S. We don’t have the right to vote for president, despite having veterans and other professionals contributing to the continental U.S.
A more festive part of Puerto Rico is that we celebrate Christmas from Thanksgiving until about mid-January, which includes Epiphany. We also have parrandas, a tradition of gathering to surprise friends or family by singing outside their house – even in early morning. They invite us in or kick us out, depending on their mood. [Laughing.]
For food, we eat a lot of pork and arroz con gandules and coconut desserts. We also have the traditional drink coquito. Some people say it’s similar to egg nog, but it’s definitely not.
Speaking of food, any Puerto Rican restaurants you’d recommend?
Little Sister is a cafe on Hope Street that uses Puerto Rican spices and flavors, but not necessarily in traditional dishes. They also have Puerto Rican coffee. The other place is 787 Restaurant and Lounge. (That’s the area code for Puerto Rico.) If you want to find a dish your grandma used to make, you’ll find it there.
How do you relax when you’re not seeing clients?
After getting my PhD, I decided to develop some hobbies. I bought a longboard, a ukulele, a Lego set…building Legos is what stuck. My husband and I started during the pandemic and now we have sets all around the house. We could charge a dollar per guest and call it a Lego museum.
[Rodríguez-Guzmán gives a quick video tour of a fully staged Lego Christmas town, plus a giant Millennium Falcon and AT-AT walker from Star Wars.]
Recently, we hired a financial coach. We were reviewing a spreadsheet that categorized our spending and I saw, “toy”, “toy,” “toy.” I thought, “What is this?” We don’t have kids. Then I remembered our Legos.
I guess we’re trying to heal our inner child. [Laughing]