Ruth Zúñiga, PhD

Associate Professor | Director of Sabiduría: Latinx Psychology Emphasis
503-352-3615
UC Box 
A-191
HPC-2, Room 292

Roles and Interests

Instructor

  • Program evaluation
  • Sociocultural Foundations of Latinx Mental Health
  • Clinical Interventions with Latinxs
  • Global Health related courses
     
  • Supervise thesis, dissertation, and program evaluation research

Research and Clinical Interests

Integrated health care, behavioral health interventions for diabetes care, cross-cultural and Latinx psychology, multicultural competency, cultural adaptations, mindfulness and mental health seeking behaviors

 

Education

  • PhD, Clinical-Community Psychology with a Rural and Indigenous Emphasis Joint Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks-University of Alaska Anchorage, 2013
  • MS, Counseling and Human Services: Community and Rehabilitation Counseling, University of Idaho, 2006
  • BS, Psychology, Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, 2003

Professional Membership

Selected Recent Publications (*denotes student author)

Woods, T., Zúñiga, R., & David, E. J. R. (2012). "A preliminary report on the relationships between historical trauma, collective self-esteem, and mental health among Alaska native peoples." Journal of Indigenous Research, 2, Article 1.

Lewis, J., Woods, T. M., Zúñiga, R., & David, E. J. R. (2011). The Indigenous Peoples of Alaska: Appreciating the Role of Elders in Shifting Toward a Strength-Based and Culturally-Appropriate Approach to Mental Health. Communiqué, August, XXIII-XXVII.

Zúñiga, R., & Fischer, J. (2010). Relationship between emotional intelligence and attitudes toward people with disabilities: Two cultures comparison. Applied Journal of Rehabilitation Counseling, 41, 1, 12-18.

Selected Recent Presentations (*denotes student author)

Zúñiga, R., & Dewane, S. (2016, July). Program development and evaluation in a primary care setting assessing group medical visits for ethnic minority patients. Oral presentation at the National Latinas Research Network. San Antonio, TX.

Sosa, D., & Zúñiga, R. (2016, July). PTSD in Latina/o war veterans: An examination of war-related, subjective internal, and ethnocultural riskfactors. Paper presented at the National Latinas Research Network. San Antonio, TX.

Lehman, J., Fields, D., & Zúñiga, R. (2016, July). Culturally sensitive animal-assisted therapy with ethnic minority communities. Paper presented at the fourth biennial American Psychological Association Division 45 Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race Research conference. Palo Alto, CA.

Mendoza, C., & Zúñiga, R. (2016, June). Medical providers approaches to screening for perinatal mood disorders in adolescents. Paper presented at the Pospartum Support International Annual Conference. San Diego, CA.

Davis-Risen, S., Boggis, T., Zúñiga, R., Reisch, R., Van Atta, J., Hacker, N., Parker, K., Corvus, T., Saito, E., Mcllwain, A., & Begert, J. (June, 2016). Simulation based learning to promote interprofessional collaborative practice competencies. Paper presented at the Physician Assistant Western Consortium 2016 Conference. Hillsboro, Oregon.

Bui, K., & Zúñiga, R. (2016, May). Addressing the challenges of mentoring relationships of racial and ethnic minority students in clinical supervision. Paper presented at the Oregon Psychological Association Annual Conference. Portland, OR.

Iwamoto, E., & Zúñiga, R. (2016, April). A needs assessment for diabetes self-management at a behavioral healthcare agency. Paper presented at the Western Psychological Association 96th Annual Convention. Long Beach, CA.

Davis-Risen, S., Keetay, V., Boggis, T. Cicirello, N., Dimmler, L. R., Fuentes, D. G, Krusen, N. E, Parker, K. L, Roberts, S. C., & Zúñiga, R. (2015, October). Development of an interprofessional global health course series at Pacific University College of Health Professions. Paper presentation at the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions. Scottsdale, AZ

Sosa, D., & Zúñiga, R. (2015, June). Ethnocultural risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in Latinos. Oral presentation at the Annual Latino Health Equity Conference. Portland, OR.

Bui, K., Iwamoto, E., & Zúñiga, R. (2015, June). Increasing the pipeline of Latino/a health care providers through recruitment and retention of postgraduate students. Oral presentation at the Annual Latino Health Equity Conference. Portland, OR.

Bui, K., & Zúñiga, R. (2015, April). Graduate students’ experience and perceptions of campus climate: A program evaluation. Paper presented at the Western Psychological Association 95th Annual Convention. Las Vegas, NV.

Bennasar, M., Gallardo, M., Koslofsky, S., & Zuniga, R. (2014, October). Meeting Latinas/os’ individual and communal mental health needs through clinical training programs. Roundtable presented at the biennial meeting of the National Latino Psychological Association. Albuquerque, NM.

Boggis, T., Zúñiga, R., Davis-Risen, S., & Reich, B. (2014, October). An innovative integrated educational approach to prepare allied health students for community interprofessional practice. Oral presentation at the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions. Las Vegas, NV.

Zúñiga, R., & Koslofsky, S. (2014, August). Interprofessional training: Preparing psychology students for the changing health care market. Oral presentation at the 122nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC.

Mendoza, C., Crowther, K., & Zúñiga, R. (2014, June). Addressing Latino health care access and utilization through a social ecological perspective. Paper presented at the fourth biennial American Psychological Association Division 45 Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race Research conference. Eugene, OR.

Zúñiga, R., Elder, K., & Koslofsky, S. (2013, June). A dios rogando y con el mazo dando: Using Latino cultural values and beliefs in health promotion and prevention. Oral presentation at the Annual Latino Health Equity Conference. Portland, OR.

Zúñiga, R., Laskaris, H., Sosa, D., Cobian, M., & Anderson, M. (2014, April).  El poder del grupo: Incorporating Latino values into psychotherapy. Paper presented at the Western Psychological Association 94th Annual Convention. Portland, OR.

Zúñiga, R., & Iwamoto Erin. (2014, April). The influence of group medical visits on diabetes outcomes and mood. Paper presented at the Western Psychological Association 94th Annual Convention. Portland, OR.

Chipp, C., Zúñiga, R., Dewane, S., Brems, C., & Johnson, M. (2014, April). University students’ and administration’ perception of healthy living at college. Paper presented at the Western Psychological Association 94th Annual Convention. Portland, OR.

Zúñiga, R. (2014, March). Group medical visits: An innovated multidisciplinary practice for diabetes care.  Paper presented at the National Latinas Research Network. New York, NY.

Zúñiga, R., & Heyne, L. (2013, January). Breaking isolation, and healing through culturally- responsive group psychotherapy. Oral presentation at the 2013 Alaska Public Health Summit. Anchorage, AK.

Tanner, R., Zúñiga, R., King, D., & Romanik, S. (2013, January). Integrating e-health interventions into diabetes care. Panel discussion to the 2013 Alaska Public Health Summit. Anchorage, AK.

Chip. C., Zuniga, R., Dewane, S., Brems, C., & Johnson, M. (2012, October). University students' and administrators' perceptions of supports and barriers to healthy living at college: A qualitative analysis. Oral presentation at the 140th Annual Meeting & Exposition of the American Public Health Association. San Francisco, CA.

Zúñiga, R., & Dulin, P. (2012, May). Enhancing patients’ self-management through group medical visits for diabetes care. Oral presentation at the 7th Annual Biomedical Research Conference. Fairbanks, AK.

Woods, T., Zúñiga, R., & David, E. J. R (2010, June). Relationship between collective self-esteem, historical trauma and mental health help seeking behaviors amongst Alaska Native people. Paper presented at the First Annual Conference of the APA Division 45.  University of Michigan, MI.

Zúñiga, R., Pastorino, R., & Doty, B. (2010, April). Yes, we can! Shifting gears to an integrative behavioral patient-centered health care model. Oral presentation at the 43rd Annual International Spring Conference of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.  Vancouver, Canada.

Headlines

Ruth Zúñiga

Zúñiga is an associate professor in the School of Graduate Psychology, where she developed the Sabiduría emphasis.

Ruth Zúñiga, PhD

Here are some of the ways that the School of Graduate Psychology's Sabiduría students have been supporting the mental health of the Latinx community in Oregon affected by COVID and the recent sociopolitical climate and our plans for continuing this work.

In partnership with Pacific University, Providence Promotores are holding Facebook live events to help support the Latinx community. The live events focus on mental health and well being and include topics such as stress management, depression and suicide prevention.

Ruth Zúñiga

Pacific University Professor Ruth Zúñiga, the director of Pacific’s Sabiduría: Latina/o Psychology Emphasis, was awarded a pair of grants to support the outreach work she and her students conduct in the LatinX community.

Ruth Zúñiga

On Facebook, Spanish-language viewers anywhere in the world can join sessions of Charlas Comunitarias to learn about emotional health and resources. The program is led partly by  Ruth Zúñiga, an associate professor in School of Graduate Psychology at Pacific University and director of the university’s Sabiduría Latina/o psychology emphasis.