It is with great honor we nominate Dr. Teresa D. LaFromboise for the National Multicultural Conference
and Summit (NMCS) Distinguished Elder Award. Dr. LaFromboise has distinguished herself as a leader in
indigenous psychology and champion of multicultural psychology since she was in graduate school at the
University of Oklahoma. She provided leadership to a fledgling organization, the Society of Indian
Psychologists (SIP), as an early career psychologist in the 1980s and became the second President in
1986. LaFromboise served as President of Division 45 of APA, is a fellow of three of the sponsoring
Divisions of the NMCS (17, 35, 45), is a past member of many APA boards and committees, and is a
tireless advocate for suicide prevention work in Indian Country. She recorded the Counseling Native
American Indians video, the first of its kind as part of a packaged multicultural training program in 1994.
Through her leadership, scholarship, mentoring, and advocacy Dr. LaFromboise has addressed the topic
of American Indian adolescent suicide in indigenous communities where suicide is a major problem, in
academia where her research continued to focus on the issue, and in the halls of Congress where she
testified on multiple occasions as a voice for this epidemic among indigenous youth. Dr. LaFromboise
published her suicide prevention program, American Indian Life Skills Development Curriculum, that is
now a promising practice in the National Registry of Evidence Based Practices with the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This is the only culturally based approach to
suicide prevention that has met the registry criteria.
Dr. LaFromboise is also a mentor. As I lead a group of students to a past NMCS, they were thrilled when
she joined us for dinner and they had the opportunity to talk with her informally about their interests.
This was event will live on in their memories as they were awestruck to have this icon of indigenous
psychology paying attention to them. She also serves as a SIP mentor. Dr. LaFromboise has guided
many others during their education and careers.
During her academic career, LaFromboise has published 48 peer reviewed articles, 50 book chapters, 10
books and curricula, and 4 book reviews. She has served on editorial boards and as a reviewer for
journal articles and grants. LaFromboise has been part of professional presentations at conferences
internationally, recorded internet, DVD, movie, and television programs addressing multicultural
counseling, teaching, mentoring, and leadership.
Among the honors Dr. LaFromboise has received include the Anne Ninham Medicine Mentorship Award
from Stanford University, the Division 45 Distinguished Career Contributions to Service Award, the
SAMHSA Excellence Award, Effective Practices & Models in Communities of Color Award from the First
Nations Behavioral Health Association, Division 45 Distinguished Career Contributions to Research,
Indian Health Service Mental Health Program Award, Women of Color Psychologies Award from the
Association for Women in Psychology, and Distinguished Scholar of the American Educational Research
Association to name a few.
Teresa LaFromboise is an icon among indigenous psychologists and is should definitely be a NMCS
Distinguished Elder.
Respectfully,
Gayle E. Morse, PhD
Art Blume, PhD
Jacqueline S. Gray, PhD
SIP President 2017-2019
SIP President 2015-2017
SIP President 2011-2013
