Maria P. P. Root (born September 13, 1955) is a

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, and

public speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

based in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. Her areas of work include

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

families and

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

cultural competence Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, behavioral, and linguistic skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures. Intercultural or cross-cultural ...

, trauma,

workplace harassment Workplace harassment is belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers. Workplace harassment has gained interest among practitioners and researchers as it is becoming one of the most sensitive areas of ef ...

, and

disordered eating Disordered eating describes a variety of abnormal eating behaviors that, by themselves, do not warrant diagnosis of an eating disorder. Disordered eating includes behaviors that are common features of eating disorders, such as: * Chronic restra ...

. Root has edited two books on multiracial people and produced the Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People. The U.S. Census referred to these two texts in the deliberations that resulted in a "check one or more races" format to the race question for the 2000 census. In 1997, she received 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) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest. Root is a former president of the Washington State Psychological Association. She has served as Chair of the APA Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest and as a member-at-large on the Board of APA Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues). Currently she has her own private practice. She has served on the advisory council of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans and the board of advisors of the

Mavin Foundation Mavin Foundation is a community organization which seeks to build "healthy communities that celebrate and empower mixed heritage people and familiesLocated in Seattle, WA, Mavin has been recognized nationally for its work toward a society inclusive ...

. She co-founded the Journal for Critical Mixed Race Studies in 2011. She is an international authority on mixed heritage identity, credited with publishing the first contemporary work on mixed-race people. She has presented lectures and training in various countries, both in and outside of

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

History

Maria Primitiva Paz Root was born in Manila,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and grew up in Los Angeles,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She completed her undergraduate studies at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

and graduated with bachelor's degrees in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. She went on to obtain a master's degree in

Cognitive Psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, whi ...

Claremont Graduate School The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California, United States. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two grad ...

and a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where her work focused on minority mental health. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington where she practices clinical psychology. Her practice focuses on adult and adolescent treatment therapy, concerning topics such as life transition issues, trauma, ethnic and racial identity, workplace stress and harassment, and

. She established a group treatment program for

bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-induc ...

in the 1980s. Root also concentrates on psychological evaluation, and works as an expert witness in forensic situations; offering expert testimony when cultural knowledge is necessary. She also travels internationally to public speak and train others on her studies of

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

. All of her published work about her research has been very prominent in the psychology community, most importantly, her works were part of the reason Americans are now able to "check more than one" box when describing their race or

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

. Root is also a clay artist and maintains her own website when she is not busy with her psychological life.

Published works

*''The Multiracial Child Resource Book'' *''Love's Revolution: Racial Intermarriage'' *''Filipino Americans: Transformation and Identity'' *''The Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier'' *''Racially Mixed People in America'' *''Diversity and Complexity in Feminist Therapy'' *''Bulimia: A Systems Approach To Treatment''. Root is also referenced in dozens of books and scholarly journal articles concerning race and

. She also wrote a few crucial articles or "guidelines" for understanding the struggles of race in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as well as to help those who are struggling with it personally. These works are: *''"Multiracial Oath of Responsibility"'' *''"Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage"'' *''"50 Experiences of Racially Mixed People"'' *''"Ecological Framework for Identity Development"''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Root, Maria P. P. 21st-century American psychologists American women psychologists Multiracial affairs in the United States Filipino emigrants to the United States Living people 1955 births 21st-century American women 20th-century American psychologists