Society of Counseling Psychology President's Welcome

It was an honor to be passed the gavel from Delishia Pittman at the 2026 SCP business meeting in Washington, DC. Pittman (past-president), Cristalis Capielo-Rosario (president-elect), Candice Hargons (candidate for president of APA) are all UGA alumni and I am very proud to follow in the footsteps of past SCP UGA faculty and alumni presidents such as George Gazda, Andy Horne, Anneliese Singh and Larry Gerstein. As the first Latino president of SCP, I am also proud to follow in the steps of Melba Vasquez and Nadya Fouad who were previous Latina presidents of SCP.

When I was interviewing for doctoral programs, my first interview was with the president of SCP at the time, Naomi Meara. How humbling to be president 35 years later. I acknowledge the impact of many mentors who have passed away, in particular George Howard my doctoral chair, advisor and life-long friend. I encourage you to reach out to your mentors and check in with them, I’m sure they would love to hear from you.

The theme for my presidential year that will culminate in San Francisco in August 2027 is: You are my other me: Shifting Latinx identity in the era of mass deportation, a call to Counseling Psychology. “You are my other me” is the English translation of the traditional Mayan greeting “In lak’ech”. There is considerable skepticism about the origins and authenticity of the greeting, but I choose this theme to emphasize the community aspects of the mass deportation crisis that we all face today. Collectively, the trauma that is being inflicted on families and communities by violent and aggressive immigration enforcement has an impact on everyone in our community. There are mixed status families being separated, families with decades of federal protection that has ended (e.g., TPS status being revoked), and many green card holders that are anxious. There are many people in our community who are facing uncertain futures and a great deal of distress. Thus, counseling psychology needs to leverage its strengths to help provide advocacy, interventions and education about the impact of mass deportation. I note that this is not the first era of mass deportation in US history, for example there were mass deportations (called repatriation) of Mexican Americans during the Great Depression. I hope to make the case that the need for counseling psychology at this point in history is critical and I’m enlisting the help of the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA) in the hopes of joint advocacy, programing and collaboration in the spirit of the pioneering APA presidencies of Melba Vasquez and Cynthia de las Fuentes focused on immigration and psychology.

In terms of subthemes, I will highlight two Latinx groups. The first are the incredible Latina leaders that have shaped counseling psychology such as Patricia Arredondo, Vasquez, de las Fuentes, Lydia Buki, Marie Miville and many, many others. I will collaborate with Division 35 to recognize and highlight our Latina leaders in counseling psychology. Secondly, consistent with SCP’s emphasis on combating anti-blackness I’m asking Ammy Sena to put together programming on AfroLatinidad to highlight the contributions, strengths and needs of the African descended Latinx community in the US which has been estimated to compose 25% of the US Latinx population.

I also want to give some thought to existential threats to the future of counseling psychology that are more long-term and subtle when compared to mass immigration. The first is the enrollment cliff in US higher education. Approximately 18 years ago US citizens stopped having as many children and this trend has not changed. Thus, we are now experiencing the first wave of less college-eligible students and this enrollment cliff will threaten the very institutions that we work and live in. The second threat is the use of artificial intelligence (AI). I have asked Mike Lau to head a taskforce looking into implications for counseling psychology of AI.

Finally, I’m launching the Ofrenda Project, this will both be a celebration of those counseling psychologists who have passed away and a remembrance of them through the Mexican American tradition of an ofrenda at APA 2027. But closely tied to remembrance of those who have passed away is the recognition that there are many people who are not at the table with us and who might be there if asked or invited. I myself am in leadership because I was invited back to SCP by Helen Neville. How many more of our colleagues would come back if invited?

I would like to thank Delishia Pittman and Debra Nolan for a year of mentoring into leadership of SCP. I would like to thank the Executive Board for many thoughtful discussions of difficult issues facing the society. I look forward to working with the incoming EB and working towards APA 2027 in San Francisco, 2027.

Edward A. Delgado-Romero, PhD