Dinelia Rosa, PhD, was awarded a Presidential Citation for her long-term service to APA, the SPTAs, practitioners, and trainees.
Rosa is director of the Dean-Hope Center for Educational and Psychological Services at Teachers College. Prior to her current position, Rosa worked for almost two decades throughout New York City in various clinical and educational settings, predominantly with children and families from diverse backgrounds. Her research centers on youth in both school and clinical settings, grief, and emergency response. In 2002, she was part of the Sesame Street Workshop Advisory Committee that produced the video series, “Helping You Help Children Cope with Stress” in response to the 9/11 attacks.
Rosa is the first Latina to serve as president of the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA). Prior to becoming president for the 2016 term, she helped charter the Division of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at the association, and was honored with the NYSPA Service Award.
Rosa has shown a strong commitment to APA throughout her career. She is a former president of Div. 31: State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs. She served on the Committee of State Leaders and the APA Board of Professional Affairs. She currently serves on APA’s Commission on Accreditation. She serves on the faculty for the APA Div. 31 Diversity Leadership Development Program, mentoring many colleagues of color.
Rosa’s involvement in diversity initiatives within New York State and the American Psychological Association has had a profound impact on both associations. She was recognized and honored for her longstanding commitment to advocacy and diversity with the APA Heiser Award in 2016 and the Diversity Leadership Award.
Rosa cowrote a widely used graduate psychology textbook, “Grief Therapy with Latinos: Integrating Culture for Clinicians.” The book provides a model that instructs clinicians on how to integrate Latinx emotional manifestations of grief, and pertinent Latinx values, into their traditional psychotherapy practices.
Active in her local community, Rosa has volunteered for several years with a nonprofit, Latino Share, where she assists with services for women affected by ovarian and breast cancer. She collaborated with Latino Share for the Novela Project, a program that spreads awareness about breast cancer in culturally informed ways.
Rosa, thank you for your commitment to APA, Psychology, and your community.