Roberto L. Abreu, PhD

Roberto L. Abreu, PhD, is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida (UF). Prior to joining UF, he was a tenure-track assistant professor at Tennessee State University, in the counseling psychology program. He completed his PhD at the University of Kentucky and an APA-accredited predoctoral internship at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington (FMC-LEX; Federal Bureau of Prisons). Prior to his doctoral training, he obtained his masters in counselor education, clinical mental health track from Florida International University. He has had the privilege of being mentored by Queer, Latinx, Black, and other POC (specifically woman-identified) scholars, clinicians, and advocates who have shaped how he interacts with his research, mentoring style, and teaching approaches. They have modeled for him the power of culture, collectivism, healing, and cultural humility. His research explores ways in which marginalized communities resist systemic oppression and promote bienestar colectivo (collective well-being), with a particular focus on Latinx communities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) and gender nonbinary individuals, and the intersection of Latinx and LGBTQ and gender nonbinary individuals and communities. At its core, his work is guided by counseling psychology values such as social justice, person-environment interactions, growth, resilience, and resistance. A significant portion of his research uses advanced qualitative methodologies to explore the experiences of marginalized communities for which existing measures do not accurately capture their experiences. Visit Chevere Lab for more details about Abreu’s work.