Monica Sanchez (Ph.D. ’27) is a Goizueta Foundation Graduate Scholar with the Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE). A first-generation college student pursuing counseling psychology, her work aims to provide culturally informed training to mental health clinicians and create spaces for underserved communities to receive services.
- Hometown: Eatonton, Georgia
- Degree objective and graduation date: Ph.D. in counseling psychology, fall 2027
- Degree(s) and graduation date: B.S. in psychology with a minor in women's studies, Valdosta State University, 2018; M.Ed. in professional counseling, University of Georgia, 2022
I was drawn to the professional counseling master’s program at the University of Georgia because of its strong emphasis on multiculturalism and social justice within training. Initially, I only intended to complete a master’s degree, but I quickly found a sense of belonging and purpose within this community. The mentorship, collaboration, and shared values I encountered inspired me to continue my education and pursue my doctoral degree at UGA. It has been a place where I have been supported both professionally and personally.
When did you decide to pursue counseling psychology as a career?
My interest in psychology emerged from listening to people’s stories and how they make sense of their lives, their struggles, and the silences that often carry the deepest pain. Within Latine communities, storytelling is a powerful form of healing, especially when navigating migration, loss, and intergenerational trauma. Everyone deserves a space to tell their story and to be heard. As the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrant parents, I have witnessed firsthand how the immigration process can affect families and noticed what was (or wasn’t) being said. My own experiences deepened my understanding and desire to create spaces where people can express their grief, resilience, and hope in the language and cultural context that feels most authentic to them.
As a first-generation student, I was initially unsure of which path within mental health to pursue and had never heard of counseling psychology before graduate school. That changed after meeting the faculty and students in my master’s program, whose warmth and sense of community reflected the values I hold closely. I soon realized that my goals aligned with counseling psychology’s dedication to culturally responsive practice and social justice. With the mentorship of Dr. Edward Delgado-Romero and the support of strong Latina graduate peers, I learned that it was possible to pursue a career that fully integrated my cultural values, lived experiences, and professional aspirations. Dr. Delgado-Romero’s relational mentorship style, his commitment to expanding bilingual therapy and training through La Clínica in LaK’ech, his emphasis on qualitative multicultural research, and his example as a leader in Latinx psychology have deeply influenced my development as a clinician and scholar. Altogether, my many mentors guided me to blaze my own path within psychology, where I hope to pass their wisdom to other prospective students and emerging clinicians throughout my career.
What was your favorite class as a student in the Mary Frances Early College of Education, and what has been your favorite class to teach?
One of my favorite courses as both a student and teaching assistant has been the U.S. Latino/a Mental Health class that is open to undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines. The class provides a space to explore Latine identity, resilience, and systemic inequities while centering cultural values and community strengths. In the class, I love our ability to cultivate a space for students to explore their own thoughts and experiences in relation to the Latine community, especially around identity and how it relates to the student’s field of study. As a student, I also deeply valued Dr. Collette Chapman-Hilliard’s Social Justice in Counseling class, which helped me name much of the work I was already doing and connect that to the systemic barriers that shape access to mental health care. Both courses reinforced my commitment to decolonial, community-centered approaches to psychology.
Tell me about your research interests.
My current research interests focus on Latine immigrant mothers and their adult daughters, exploring intergenerational conversations of cultural values, emotional resilience, and identity as sites for healing. I use qualitative and decolonial approaches to honor participants’ voices and experiences, integrating Chicana/Latina feminist methodologies like pláticas. I am also interested in the supervision practices for marginalized clinicians and how multicultural frameworks can be empowering for emerging clinicians within training spaces. Across all my projects, I strive to merge research and advocacy to highlight the inherent wisdom within underserved communities.
I also wanted to give a special shoutout to Dr. Delgado-Romero and the ¡BIENESTAR! research team for being my home for research during my graduate training and for shaping my commitment to multicultural research and community engagement.
How did you get involved with the Center for Multilingual-learner Education, Research, and Innovative Teaching (MERIT) and CLASE, and how does your work with these centers support your research and career goals?
My involvement with MERIT and CLASE began through the encouragement of my mentors and fellow graduate students, who recognized my interest in community-engaged research and advocacy. At MERIT, I provided support to teachers working with multilingual learners through professional development opportunities, bridging educational and mental health advocacy. As a Goizueta Scholar with CLASE, I serve as the lead researcher for an oral history project documenting the educational experiences of Latine individuals who attended school in Georgia from the 1950s to 2000. Using a trauma-informed lens, our goal is to preserve their narratives within UGA’s Special Collections Library, filling a critical gap in our state’s educational history. Together, these experiences have expanded my understanding of the systemic barriers faced by Latine students and highlighted the power of outreach, qualitative research, and mentorship in supporting their needs.
Why are you passionate about counseling, particularly among the Latine community?
My family and community are my greatest sources of motivation. I aspire to be the kind of provider my parents or relatives would feel comfortable working with in therapy, someone who can honor their struggles with compassion and dignity. It is important for clients to be able to express their grief, sadness, anger, or joy in the language they feel most natural to them, so they can truly process and make meaning of their emotions within the counseling space.
Growing up, I also witnessed the resilience and collective strength that help our communities heal from systemic pressures. Counseling for me is a way to honor that resilience while recognizing that we already carry cultural and ancestral wisdom within us. Through bilingual and bicultural training, I have learned to hold space for the stories, silence, and traditions that make our healing practices uniquely powerful. I continue to be inspired by the Latine community and our ability to persist, show up for one another, and live with radical hope as we envision a more just and compassionate future in the face of adversity.
What are your plans after earning your doctoral degree?
I am confident that after my time at UGA, I will continue to be an advocate for marginalized communities—particularly Latine communities—by working to transform mental health practices in ways that empower individuals and families to thrive. I aim to become a bilingual licensed psychologist, joining the 5.5% of Spanish-speaking providers within psychology. Building on this commitment, I aim to further develop my supervisory skills to become a bilingual supervisor who provides culturally competent guidance to BIPOC trainees across diverse settings. In doing so, I hope to mentor and uplift emerging scholars and clinicians of color in psychology, creating spaces where cultural identity and collective healing are celebrated and sustained. Ultimately, I strive to carry these values forward in all areas of my work, continuing to embrace the beauty of life through community, connection, and the stories that unite us.