Cynthia de las Fuentes (born 1964) is an American counseling psychologist serving as the 2024 president of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

(APA). Her career has focused on ethics in psychology, feminist and multicultural therapy, and advocacy for Latinx and immigrant communities. De las Fuentes was an associate professor at Our Lady of the Lake University from 1993 to 2007.

Early life and education

Cynthia de las Fuentes was born in 1964 and raised in a Mexican American family. She was the first person on either side of her family to pursue graduate education. Her interest in psychology developed during an AP Psychology class in high school and was influenced by her maternal grandfather, who respected the field despite limited formal education. De las Fuentes earned a B.A. in 1984 at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where she continued her studies to complete a Ph.D. in

counseling psychology Counseling or Counselling psychology is an international discipline. It is practiced in the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong and Korea, and South Africa. Counseling psychology in th ...

in 1994. Her dissertation was titled, ''Ethical Decision-Making in Faculty-Student Multiple Relationships''. Her doctoral advisors were Lucia Albino Gilbert and Melba J. T. Vasquez. De las Fuentes was a congressional fellow with the Women’s Research and Education Institute from 1989 to 1990 and a Public Interest Directorate Fellow at the

(APA) in 1990. Her predoctoral internship was completed at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, from 1992 to 1993.

Career

De las Fuentes joined Our Lady of the Lake University in 1993, earning tenure in 2002 and serving as an associate professor until 2007. She held multiple roles, including practicum and internship coordinator, interim program coordinator for the M.S. in

school psychology School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and ado ...

and counseling, and director of training for the Psy.D. program, obtaining tenure in 2002. During this period, she developed a focus on ethics training, feminist therapy, and multicultural psychology, with a strong emphasis on Latinx populations. Her teaching included graduate courses in Latino psychology, multicultural psychology, and

applied ethics Applied ethics is the practical aspect of morality, moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership. For ex ...

, aligning with her ongoing research and publications in these areas. De las Fuentes produced works on multicultural competence,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

ethical practices, and culturally informed forensic evaluations, including a 2005 publication on competency training in ethics for professional psychology. Her 2007 work, “Applying the Multicultural Competency Guidelines to Latina/o Populations,” further explored the cultural genogram as a strategy in clinical training and practice. She was also active in presenting her research at conferences, including a 2006 APA summit on immigration, co-chairing the event to address the psychological impacts of immigration. De las Fuentes has been involved in professional organizations. She served as president of the APA’s society for the psychology of women (Division 35) from 2005 to 2006 and represented Division 45, society for the psychological study of culture, ethnicity, and race, on the APA council of representatives from 2017 to 2018. She also held editorial positions for journals such as '' Psychology of Women Quarterly'' and '' Professional Psychology: Research and Practice''. In these roles, she contributed to scholarly discourse on multicultural issues and ethics, focusing on the integration of cultural sensitivity in psychological practice. From 1997 to 2015, de las Fuentes participated in the Austin Women’s Psychotherapy Project. Since 2007, she has conducted an independent psychology practice in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, where she specializes in feminist and multicultural therapy, as well as forensic evaluations and consultation for immigrant communities. Her practice focuses on a range of issues, including racial identity, gender, and sexual orientation, in line with her research interests and her advocacy for culturally competent therapy. In 2023, de las Fuentes was elected president of the APA, with her term as president commencing in 2024. Her career includes significant involvement in the APA, where she has held multiple leadership positions, including chair of the committee on women in psychology in 2012 and service on the APA council of representatives.

Personal life

De las Fuentes adopted two daughters. She has a background in voice performance, which she pursued from childhood through graduate school, performing in her first opera at age 14. Her personal interests include reading, cooking, and watching Korean dramas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de las Fuentes, Cynthia Presidents of the American Psychological Association Living people 21st-century American psychologists American women psychologists Counseling psychologists University of Texas at Austin alumni American academics of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American women scientists Hispanic and Latino American social scientists 1964 births Place of birth missing (living people)