CHANTAL FIGUEROA PHD

ABOUT ME

My name is Chantal Figueroa, PhD. I am a Guatemalan Femme specialized in critical mental health awareness.

I believe mental health is a political issue, especially for the Central American community that continues to be systematically traumatized.  

I design educational programs for educators, social workers and mental health professionals looking to support the mental health of the Central American Refugees they work with. 

WHAT IS CRITICAL MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS?

Critical Mental Health Awareness is a concept developed by Psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró that refers to the ability to be critical about the political, social and emotional issues that affect our mental health. 

Critical Mental Health Awareness is the ability to define what mental health means by recognizing what symptoms are a response to oppression and which ones stem from mental illness. The ability to differentiate between the two makes mental health a political issue that centers social justice as a form of mental health care.

I believe that mental health is an educational issue. That is why my goal is to educate for critical mental health awareness by centering on recognizing patterns of violence we have normalized in our everyday lives.

SERVICES

Fomenting Critical Mental Health Awareness

RESEARCH & EVALUATIONS

Participatory Research

I design participatory assessments to evaluate the culture of mental health of an institution or community. Together with co-participants, we provide recommendations that foster a culture of critical mental health.

TRAININGS

Critical Mental Health Awareness

I train educators and mental health professionals to develop a critical lens, to recognize gender violence and understand the history of systemic violence of Central America in order to better serve their  Central American students and clients.

EXPERT WITNESS

Guatemalan country conditions expert on Disability

I provide affidavits and telephonic testimony for Guatemalan asylum seekers diagnosed with a mental illness or Guatemalan women survivors of gender violence or escaping persecution.