Ana Ponciano

Ana Ponciano, LMSW (she/her/ella), earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from The University of Texas at Arlington. Currently, she is dedicated to supporting the Latino/Latinx/Hispanic community by challenging negative stigmas surrounding mental health. Ana also has six years of experience working in a high school, where she witnessed the challenges, first-generation students face in completing their college degrees. She is committed to developing programs that support these students by addressing non-academic barriers and ensuring that mental health concerns and other obstacles do not prevent them from earning a four-year degree. With Indigenous roots in Southern Mexico, Ana is devoted to creating approaches incorporating community traditions with various methods to address and heal mental health issues. She is particularly interested in understanding how the mental health of male figures within Indigenous communities affects the trauma experienced by the entire family.