The Minority Fellowship Program is pleased to present the Mentors of the Year award to Dr. Tatiana Melendez- Rhodes and Nelson Perez.
Dr. Melendez-Rhodes is an Assistant Professor and Clinical Coordinator of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program in the Department of Counselor Education at Central Connecticut State University, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Connecticut, a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and AAMFT Approved Supervisor. She received her masters and doctoral degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Connecticut. She is also a clinical psychologist in Peru, her native country. She was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship allowing her to pursue her graduate studies in the United States.
Dr. Melendez-Rhodes has taught several graduate courses of marriage, family therapy, and supervision in universities in the United States and has taught undergraduate courses in the Department of Psychology in universities in Peru. She is passionate about teaching, mentoring, and interacting with her students. Dr. Melendez-Rhodes has worked in public hospitals, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, private practice and outpatient mental health organizations in Connecticut, Oregon, Washington, and Peru. She incorporates her extensive clinical experience as a psychologist and marriage and family therapist to her teaching and research. She currently serves on the Connecticut Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (CTAMFT) Board as an Academic Liaison. The AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program is grateful to Dr. Melendez-Rhodes for her time and investment in the program and the fellows.
Nelson M Perez is an enthusiast psychotherapist who develops his professional practice as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Miami, South Florida, currently working with families who have children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, developmental problems, and other family issues. He practices based on a systemic and relational approach to individuals, families, and groups with a multicultural, inclusive, and narrative therapy perspectives. He has more than 14 years of clinical work including a spectrum from individual, family, child, and adolescent therapies to psycho-educational groups with a wide diversity of personal, family, and socio-cultural challenges. Also, this therapist has worked in several therapeutic and research programs with people with substance abuse and chronic health conditions such as Progressive Muscular Dystrophy, HIV, and Autism; in addition, treating families and individuals severely affected by psychiatric diagnoses, social isolation, and legal, immigration, and substance abuse problems. Nelson worked as a College professor of Psychology in Cuba in the University of Havana, teaching in several Psychology areas (Research Methodology, Clinical, Health, and Social Psychology). He has been awarded with two Scholarship Programs participating in international and cross-cultural family researches in Mexico and USA. At this moment, he is a doctoral candidate of Ph.D. in Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University. Nelson has demonstrated special interest in exploring the dynamics, resources, and perspectives of Cuban-American families in their immigration, settlement, and integration processes in American Society, advocating, in his professional and academic activities, for individual and family developments through integration and communication, multi-system collaborative dialogues, and strength based focus. He is currently preparing the theoretical and methodological bases of his doctoral dissertation with Cuban-American families in the community of South Florida. He has experiences in different quantitative, qualitative, and mix methodologies in the research arena. The AAMFT Minority Fellowship Program is grateful to Mr. Perez for his time and investment in the program and the fellows.
