About Me
Christian A. Latino, PhD (he/him)
My Background
I was born in Sacramento, CA and grew up in the Bay Area, and eventually completed my BA in Psychology at UCLA after transferring from Diablo Valley College. After working in healthcare consulting for 4 years, I craved a new experience and signed up to be a Peace Corps volunteer. I ended up doing mainly youth development work (teaching martial arts for personal growth) in Mexico for 3 years. This special experience made me wish for more education and better tools to help people in a deeper way. So, I decided to pursue my PhD in Counseling Psychology and started graduate school in 2013 at The University of Iowa (graduating in 2020). From there, I completed my internship and postdoctoral training at UC Davis snd first became a Licensed Psychologist in California in 2021 and later in Iowa in 2024.
As a side note, people are often curious about my last name, wondering if I identify as Latinx. My last name is actually Italian (my great grandfather immigrated to the United States from Sicily). I've also come to learn that the last name "Latino" is apparently somewhat common in Italy, and that it refers to a southern Italian.
A Little Bit about My Approach in Therapy
I work with my clients to help them feel empowered and in charge of themselves, while also healing and growing. I do this by helping my clients see different ways they think, feel, react, cope, are in relationships, etc., so that we can figure which of these might unintentionally be contributing to their mental health concerns. After having discovered this, I help my clients finds new ways of being that make their lives better and that are in line with their personal values and preferences.
What I Hope Clients Take Away from Our Sessions
After therapy, my clients usually say that they feel they like they know themselves much better, are more confident, that we have formed a meaningful relationship, and that they are feeling much better in their lives. They also sometimes experience that they have been able to reduce use of mental health medication or have gone off of them altogether. I personally love being a therapist and greatly enjoy helping my clients, and it is my hope that they can feel this in our work with each other.
How I Address Diversity and Culture
I completed my PhD in Counseling Psychology, which has a specific focus on multiculturalism, diversity, and systemic factors. I personally believe these factors are very important because every person is unique and has a special expression of themselves. As a therapist, I take these into account and integrate them into therapy through evidence-based practices such as cultural humility and curiosity. I have significant experience with people with various identities, including racial/ethnic, LGBTQIA+, religion/spirituality, gender, residential status, socioeconomic status, and physical ability.
How I Keep Learning
I think that learning is incredibly important and I go about it, first and foremost, by reflecting on myself. I really enjoy being a therapist because I work with so many different types of people and different situations, and therefore I learn and grow an incredible amount about myself both professionally and personally. I am also a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy, which gives me regular access to the most recent research, best practices, and methods in psychotherapy. Finally, I belong to a consultation group with other licensed psychologists to continue to exchange ideas with others with the goal of helping my clients as much as possible.