is Professor Emerita of Women's Studies at San Diego State University and Professor Emerita of Psychology at Alliant International University (California School of Professional Psychology-San Diego). She specializes in the psychology of Latinas, immigrant and refugee women, women's sexuality across cultures and qualitative research methodology. Dr. Espín trained psychotherapists and worked as a feminist therapist for twenty years before coming to San Diego in 1990. A native of Cuba, Dr. Espín has lived and worked in several countries. She received the 1991 Award for Distinguished Professional Contribution to Public Service from the American Psychological Association, the Distinguished Career Award from the Association for Women in Psychology in 2001 and distinguished publication awards from the Association for Women in Psychology in 1993 and in 1999. She is a sought after consultant and the author of many articles. Dr. Espín regularly presents her work at national and international professional conferences. She is the author of Latina Healers: Lives of Power and Tradition (Floricanto, 1996) and Latina Realities: Essays on Healing, Migration, and Sexuality (Westview, 1997) Women Crossing Boundaries: A Psychology of Immigration and Transformations of Sexuality (Routledge, 1999) and co-editor of Refugee Women and their Mental Health: Shattered Societies, Shattered Lives (Haworth, 1992), Feminist Reflections in Growth and Transformations: Asian-American Women in Therapy (Haworth, 2007), and Sin or Salvation: The Relationship Between Sexuality and Spirituality in Psychotherapy ( Haworth, forthcoming). Dr. Espín has recently turned her attention to the study of women saints from feminist and psychological perspectives.

Women's Studies
Psychology of Latina women/women of color
Psychology of immigrant/refugee women
Cultural and gender factors in human development and psychotherapy
Human sexuality
Qualitative research methodology
Spirituality and psychology

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1990-2007 Professor, Department of Women's Studies, San Diego State University. Responsibilities: Developing and teaching women's studies courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and other academic duties. Special assignment as Coordinator of Diversity Initiatives for the College of Arts and Letters: 1992-94. Professor Emerita, 2002 (Continued to teach one semester per year as part of Faculty Early Retirement Program:2003-2007).

1992-2003 Professor, Alliant International University (California School of Professional Psychology), San Diego. Responsibilities: Developing & teaching doctoral level courses in psychology, directing doctoral dissertations and other academic duties. Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Diversity Issues:1996-98. Systemwide Coordinator, MERIT Institute: 2001-2003. Responsibilities: Institutional development on diversity issues and initiatives. Professor Emerita, 2003.

1986-1990 Associate Professor and Director, Counseling Psychology Program, Department of Education, Tufts University.

1975-1986 Associate Clinical Professor, Counseling Psychology Program, School of Education, Boston University. (Special part-time assignment: Coordinator of Special Projects, International Student Office, 1984-86).

1974-1990 Psychotherapist. (Massachusetts State License as Health Provider Psychologist).

1974-1975 Interim Assistant Professor, Department of Counselor Education, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

1970 Instructor in Social and General Psychology, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica.

1964-1969 Instructor in Psychology and Religion, St. Clare College, San José, Costa Rica.

Fellow, Harvard University (1981-83)

Ph.D. University of Florida (1974)

B.A. Universidad de Costa Rica (1969)

2010 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies – University of Klagenfurt, Austria

2008 Association for Women in Psychology – Christine Ladd Franklin Award for long-term contributions to Feminist Psychology

2006 American Psychological Association (Division 52) Denmark-Reuder Award for Outstanding International Contributions to the Psychology of Women and Gender

2006 American Psychological Foundation - Rosallee Weiss Award for Outstanding Leaders in Psychology

2005 Association for Religion in Intellectual Life – Coolidge Fellowship

2005 American Psychological Association – Presidential Citation for life-long work on Multicultural Issues in Psychology

2005 National Multicultural Conference and Summit (of the APA) – Recognition as an Elder for life-long work on Multicultural Issues in Psychology

2004 National Latino/a Psychological Association – Distinguished Psychologist Award for life-long work on the psychology of Latinas

2002 Feminist Therapy Institute - Honored as one of the developers of the field

2001 Association for Women in Psychology - Distinguished Career Award

1999 Association for Women in Psychology - Women of Color Psychologies Award (for Women Crossing Boundaries: A Psychology of Immigration and Transformations of Sexuality)

1999 American Psychological Association - CLGBC - Outstanding Achievement Award

1994 British Psychological Society - Fellowship

1993 Association for Women in Psychology - Women of Color Psychologies Award (for article co-authored with Mary Ann Gawelek).

1992 American Psychological Association - One of 100 women included in the Women's Heritage Exhibit (Created to celebrate Women's contributions to psychology as part of the 100th Anniversary of the APA).

1991 American Psychological Association - Award for Distinguished Professional Contribution to Public Service.

1988 American Psychological Association - Fellow status

1981-83 National Institute of Mental Health - Fellowship for Research at Harvard University

Qualitative Research Consultant, Study of Presumptive Approach to Organ Donation, Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania (2002-2005).

Academic Specialist (USIA/Fulbright), Women's Studies continuing education courses for the faculty of the Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, Costa Rica (1989).

Core faculty, Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education, Boston, MA. Courses on Women (1988 & 1990); Course on Psychotherapy of Diversity (1989).

Faculty, Cape Cod Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cape Cod, MA. Week long course on Exploring Culture, Ethnicity, and Gender (1992).

Instructor, APA Pre-Conference/CEU Workshop, Multiple Identities Singular Selves: Working where ethnicity meets gender and sexual identity (1998).

Instructor, CEU Workshop/Qualitative Research for Psychologists, California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego (1998 & 2005).

View Selected Workshops

Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies – University of Klagenfurt, Austria (2010)

Visiting Professor, Pyschology of Latina Women, Spanish Immersion Program, Alliant International University (CSPP) Mexico City (2009)

Co-Coordinator, Association for Women in Psychology, National Meeting (2008)

Visiting Scholar, Universidad del Valle, Guatemala. Course on Gender Psychology and Psychotherapy (2007)

Faculty Advisor, Project ESSEA: Mental heath and advocacy program for immigrants and refugees from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea (CSPP Foundation, 9/00-12/01).

Director, SDSU Paris Semester (1999).

Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (2/95-7/95).

Visiting Scholar, Northwest Center for Research on Women, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (9/94-1/95).

Visiting Scholar, University of Innsbruck, Austria. Courses on the Psychology of Oppression and on Ethnicity and Gender (1995).

Board of Regents, St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana (1985-1988).

More on books

(2008, November). My “friendship” with Latin American women saints as a source of spiritual strength. National Latino/a Psychological Association, Costa Mesa, California.

(2007, August). Women saints as a source of female spirituality.  American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California.

(2007, August). Activism, spirituality, and migration experiences of women. American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California.

(2007, March). Memory, identity, and  the feminist self.  Association for Women in Psychology. San Francisco, California.

(2006, August). Psychotherapy and Social Justice. Rosallee Weiss Award Address. American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.

(2006, March). A feminist look at the kaleidoscope of identity. Association for Women in Psychology, Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Keynote address).

(2006, February). Gender roles and sexuality in women’s experience of migration. Summit on Immigration. American Psychological Association, San Antonio, TX.

(2005, July). Rosa de Lima, first saint of the Americas: Sainthood, women’s bodies, and the building of national identity.  Association for Religion in Intellectual Life, New York, NY.

(2005, February). Exploring the intersections of immigrant status, sexuality, gender, and racism. Rountable on Cultural Psychology and Education. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.

(2005, January). The age of the cookie cutter has passed: Contradictions in identity at the core of therapeutic intervention. National Multicultural Conference and Summit IV. Los Angeles, CA.

(2002, June). Secrets, Synchronicity, and Serendipity: Reflections on life as (Latina feminist) psychologist. Association for Women in Psychology, Vancouver, British Columbia. (Invited Address: Distinguished Career Award).

(2001, August). The language of the soul: Psychotherapy with women across cultures. American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

(2001, March). Women's sanctity/Women's bodies. (Symposium on "Experiencing the Body: Psychological Strategies that Function in Women's Lives"). Association for Women in Psychology, Los Angeles, CA.

(2000, August). "Making love in English": The interplay of language and sexuality in the life narratives of immigrant women. (Symposium on "Developing Female Sexualities: Stories of Current Complexities"). American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.

(2000, June). Sexuality and language in the life narratives of immigrant women. (Symposium on "New and Old Worlds: Women Immigrants in the United States"). National Women's Studies Association, Boston, MA.

(2000, March). A psychology of immigration and the transformations of sexuality. (Women of Color Psychologies Award). Association for Women in Psychology, Salt Lake City, UT.

(2000, March). The lives of women saints as examples of resistance and accommodation to patriarchy. (Symposium on "Resistance and Accommodation as Psychological Strategies in Women's Lives"). Association for Women in Psychology, Salt Lake City, UT.

(1999, August). The gifts Latinos bring to Psychology. (Presidential Miniconvention on Ethnic Minorities-Scaling the Summit: The gifts Ethnic Minorities Bring). American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

(1998, August). Women saints: Obedient? Submissive? Feminists in disguise?. (Symposium on Women Saints: Feminist and Psychological Perspectives on their Lives). American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

(1998, June). Heavenly inspirations: A psychological and feminist study of the lives of selected women saints. National Women's Studies Association, Oswego, NY.

(1997, January). Traditional religion and feminist practice: Ethical conundrums. Conference on Ethics in Feminist Psychology, Division 35 (Psychology of Women), American Psychological Association, Seattle, WA.

(1996, November). Latina women: Sexuality, migration, and language. Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Houston, TX.

(1992, August). Giving voice to silence: The psychologist as witness. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C. (Invited address).

(1991, August). Ethnicity, race and class, and the future of feminist psychology. American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA. (Invited address).

with Dottolo, A. (1998, August). Edith Stein's visions of womanhood (Symposium on Women Saints: Feminist and Psychological Perspectives on their Lives). American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.

with Dottolo, A., Klinger, R., McEvoy, S., Simon-Arndt, S., Stewart, C., Yakushko, O. (2004. February). Feminist journeys toward embodied theories. Association for Women in Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.

(2008, July). Género y migración [Gender and migration]. Mundo de Mujeres/Women’s World Congress. Madrid, Spain.

(2007, July).  Respuestas de la psicología feminista a cuestiones de migración, género y orientación sexual [Feminist psychology responds to issues of immigration, gender, and sexual orientation]. Interamerican Congress of Psychology, México, DF.

(2006, November). Lenguaje, Género y Migración [Language, Gender, and Migration]. Encuentro Nacional de Investigación Educativa, Instituto Michoacano de Ciencias de la Educación, Morelia, México.

(2004, November). Impacto de la experiencia de migración en la sexualidad de las mujeres [Impact of the migration experience on women's sexuality]. Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.

(2004, July). Global migrations and body transformations: Changes in appearance and clothing as gender markings of assimilation or resistance. Panel "Transplanted, Translated and Transformed: Moving through Ideologies of Gender, Race and Nation." Feminism Contesting Globalisation Conference, University of Dublin, Ireland.

(2003, September). Mujer, cuerpo y santidad en América Latina [Women, body, and sanctity in Latin America]. Congreso Internacional "Cuerpo, Saberes y Nación: Constitución de Identidad de Género en lo Público y lo Privado en América Latina" [International Conference "Bodies, Knowledges, and Nationhood: The Construction of Gender Identity in the Public and Private Spheres in Latin America."], Santiago de Chile.

(2003, September). Género, derechos humanos y volencia doméstica [Gender,human rights, and domestic violence], Congreso Internacional sobre “Cuerpo, Saberes y Nación: Constitución de Identidad de Género en lo Público y lo Privado en América Latina [International Conference on ”Bodies, Knowledges, and Nationhood: The Construction of Gender Identity in the Public and Private Spheres in Latin America.”], Santiago de Chile.

(2001, July). Workshop: Qualitative Research Methods in Gender Studies. InterAmerican Congress of Psychology, Santiago de Chile.

(2000, July). Rosa de Lima, first saint of the Americas: Women, sainthood, and community in early colonial Latin America. International Hagiography Conference: "Saints and Communities", Groeningen, The Netherlands.

(1998, April). Rosa de Lima and Mariana de Quito: Women, body, and sanctity in the 16th and 17th centuries. Conferencia Internacional "En el Umbral del Milenio" [International Conference "At the Threshold of the Millennium"], Lima, Perú.

(1996, July). The role of gender and emotion in women's experience of migration. Euroconference: Identités Collectives et Répresentation Symbolique [Euroconference on Collective Identity and Symbolic Representation], Paris, France.

(1994, December). Crossing borders and boundaries: The vicissitudes of gender, sexuality, identity, and language in the life narratives of immigrant women. Multikulturelt samfund og etnisk identitet Konference [Conference on Multicultural Research in Ethnic Identity], University of Odense and Samkvind [Center form Women's Studies in the Social and Legal Sciences], University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

(1994, June). Crossing borders and boundaries: Life narratives of immigrant women and the development of identity. Conference on Immigration, Language Acquisition, and Social Integration, Jerusalem, Israel.

(1989, July). Migration and psychotherapy: The experience of Latin American women Interamerican Congress of Psychology, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

(1987, July). A longitudinal study on the psychological development of Latin American women. Interamerican Congress of Psychology, Havana, Cuba.

(2009, February). The kaleidoscope of identity in the clinical hour. New Leaf. San Francisco, California.

(2009, February). Feminism and spirituality. New Leaf. San Francisco, California.

(2008, November). The personal is theoretical: The effective use of personal experience in academic writing. Feminist Research Colloquium, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

(2007, January). Memory, memoir, identity and self. Feminist Research Colloquium, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

(2006, November). Multiple identities, Multiple sources of growth. Texas Psychological Association, Dallas, TX (Keynote address).

(2005, February). A tale of two Theresas: Teresa de Avila and Thérèse de Lisieux. Christ Lutheran Church, Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA,

(2004, April). Mujeres santas: Inspiración para el Tercer Milenio. [Female saints: Inspiration for the Third Millenium]. Fraternidad de Jerusalén. Tijuana, México.

(2003, October). “The destiny of this people is my own…” Edith Stein’s life and canonization as a study in border crossings. University of San Diego, San Diego, CA.

(2003, September). Memory: History? Fiction? Reflections on autobiographical memory. Feminist Research Colloquium, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

(1998, September). Latina healers: Lives of tradition and power. Conference on The Nature of Healing, Anchorage, Alaska.

(1998, September). Women saints and their stories. Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska.

(1998, February). Power and the self. Conference on the Meaning of Racial Identity in America, University of California, Riverside, CA.

(1997, February). The destiny of this people is my own: Edith Stein's paradoxical sainthood. Lipinsky Institute for Research for Judaic Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

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