[2] Joseph Ponterotto is a licensed psychologist and mental health counselor in New York State and is the former associate editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology.
[3] Dr. Casas chaired Ponterretto's Doctoral dissertation, "The Effects of Select Parental Variables, Cognitive Home Stimulation, and Teacher-Child Interactive Behavior on the Academic Performance of Low-Income Mexican American Children".
Ponterotto credits minority scholars in multicultural research, including Thomas Parham, Janet Helms, William Cross, Derald Wing Sue, and Casas, for sustaining his commitment and self-confidence as a graduate student and new professional in the field.
[3] Ponterotto also acknowledges his faculty colleagues and students at Fordham University for their roles in the evolution of his professional career, particularly his interest in qualitative research and how it can inform multicultural counseling.
Since his arrival in 1987, Dr. Ponterotto cites Fordham leaders such as Leo Goldman and Merle Keitel for creating an academic environment that emphasized qualitative research.
He also thanks his students for shedding light on how these methods can be administered to thoroughly learn about a specific multicultural population while also generating a sense of social justice that honors and benefits the research participants as well as advancing science.
[5] In 2008, he opened his own small psychotherapy practice in New York City, where he specializes in examining the impact of different social-cultural contexts on the individual person, families, and career development.
He also received the 17th Annual Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship from Teachers College, Columbia University at the 24th Winter Roundtable on Cultural Psychology and Education.
[8] Ponterotto emphasizes that qualitative inquiry approaches such as interviews with participants and their families are imperative for research, practice, training, empowering, and honoring different ethnicities, races, cultures, and their respective beliefs, values, and traditions.
[9] Ponterotto is known for developing and advocating for measures or scales (e.g., survey instruments) that are sensitive to cultural and ethnic differences to ensure that any research conducted or treatment initiatives are valid, appropriate, and inclusive.