Biography
Cynthia de las Fuentes, a bilingual counseling psychologist with a rich background in voice performance, embodies the voice of advocacy and compassion that psychology and humanity need. With a profound belief in psychology's potential to address human suffering, de las Fuentes has dedicated her career to serving diverse communities and promoting social justice.
Her journey into psychology was influenced by her maternal grandfather’s admiration for the field and her own experiences in an AP psychology class in high school. As the oldest daughter in a Mexican American family, de las Fuentes was the first on both sides of her family to attend graduate school, overcoming obstacles such as public speaking along the way.
As the 2024 president of APA, de las Fuentes brought extensive experience and leadership to the role. She holds a PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, was a Congressional Fellow, a tenured associate professor of psychology at Our Lady of the Lake University, and has been actively involved in APA governance, serving in various leadership positions within the organization.
Throughout her career, de las Fuentes has championed ethics in psychology, feminist psychology, and multicultural and Latinx psychologies. To name just a few examples of this work: She was a founding member of the National Latinx Psychological Association and she served on the APA Council of Representatives representing Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race) and as president of Division 35 (Society for the Psychology of Women). As a practitioner, she offers sliding-scale consultation, psychotherapy, and forensic evaluations for immigrants, asylum seekers, and victims of discrimination and hate crimes.
In addition to her professional contributions, de las Fuentes is deeply committed to community service and advocacy. She provides pro bono training to bilingual psychologists on culturally competent forensic evaluations for the Latinx immigrant community and conducts workshops on self-care and stress management for immigration lawyers and their staff.
de las Fuentes’s leadership and advocacy efforts reflect her unwavering dedication to advancing psychology’s role in promoting social justice and relieving human suffering.