Click Here to leave comments about the website or Home-Study Course improvement. Note to newly licensed psychologists:  You do not need to be a member of NMPA to take our cultural diversity home-study courses although it may be less expensive to join ($60 annual for students and those within 2 years of receiving degree). Email newmexpa@aol.com for the password to gain access to the courses. Only Home Study Courses #2, 4, and 5 meet the cultural diversity requirement for new licensees set by the NM Board of Psychologist Examiners (BPE).  For psychologists who are renewing their licenses, all of the Cultural Competence Home Study courses are approved for cultural diversity credit.  Check with the BPE (505-476-4657) for alternatives to NMPA's cultural diversity courses. This coursework has been approved by the New Mexico Board of Psychologist Examiners as continuing education for New Mexico psychologists but it may not meet continuing education requirements in any other states.

The American Psychological Association Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change (APA, 2002) use the terms diversity and multiculturalism interchangeably to include “aspects of identity stemming from gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, religious/spiritual orientation and other cultural dimensions.”  According to this and other APA publications, the term diversity also “is often used to describe the cultural and ethnic differences among individuals whose experiences are different from those of the dominant culture.”

An increasingly large percentage of the population of the United States includes individuals from racial/ethnic backgrounds.  New Mexico is considered a “high diversity state” (Brewer, et al., 2001) with almost 65% of the population comprising racial/ethnic minorities.   And yet many psychologists in general, feel ill prepared to work with these populations. 

APA’s Multicultural Guidelines (based on Ethical Principals A, D, and E) encourage all psychologists to gain skills to work effectively with these groups in an effort to respect other’s rights, to be concerned to not harm others, and to contribute to social justice.  It is from this premise that this website is developed. 

The educational goal of this website is to expose New Mexico psychologists to aspects of New Mexico culture that address the following areas:  1)  ability to work with diverse populations, 2) sensitivity to the consumer, 3) multicultural knowledge, and 4) awareness of cultural barriers.  Further, the goal of this website seeks to assess psychologist competency in these areas and subsequent confidence/desire to work these diverse groups.  This website will be updated  quarterly with new materials that seek to improve the above noted areas of cultural competency for those who want to learn more about this area.   For a minimum fee and after completing an assessment of these materials, psychologists will be able to gain continuing education credit as this pertains to the cultural competence areas cited above.