PUENTE Lab

PUENTE Lab PUENTE Lab | Promoting Equity in Mental Health
📍 Based at CSUN | Led by Dr. Jonathan I. Home of The Mental Health Toolkit. PUENTELab.com

Martinez
We bridge research, culture, and care to promote mental health equity for underserved communities.

Take a moment to pause, reflect, and write. 🌿📝Our newest PUENTE Lab Bulletin, Spring Reflection: A Letter to Yourself, i...
06/19/2026

Take a moment to pause, reflect, and write. 🌿📝

Our newest PUENTE Lab Bulletin, Spring Reflection: A Letter to Yourself, invites you to explore your mental health through a personal letter to yourself.

Read the FULL bulletin and try the reflection activity at https://puentelab.com/bulletin 💌

🌉 Introducing the PUENTE Lab Mental Health Toolkit v4.0 Available Now! https://tinyurl.com/PUENTEToolkitOverviewWhat if ...
05/29/2026

🌉 Introducing the PUENTE Lab Mental Health Toolkit v4.0 Available Now!
https://tinyurl.com/PUENTEToolkitOverview

What if conversations about mental health felt more approachable, interactive, and connected to the experiences of our communities?
Designed for families, educators, providers, and community members, the toolkit offers engaging tools and activities that support more informed, meaningful, and accessible conversations about mental health.

Grounded in research and shaped by community voices, the Mental Health Toolkit helps people learn, reflect, and engage with mental health in ways that feel relevant, practical, and empowering.
🌐 Spanish version coming soon!

Inside the toolkit, you'll find 👇🏽
😊 Emotion Chart activity that helps people identify, understand, and communicate their feelings
🌎 Strengths of Our Community activity, where families can explore their strengths and reflect on the qualities that help them thrive
💌 Letters to Myself reflections created by Celestino Melchor that encourage self-reflection, personal growth, and self-compassion
🎬 Interactive Victor Luna series activities inspired by his story that encourage reflection, emotional expression, and connection
🎙️ PUENTE Lab Podcast episodes featuring conversations about mental health, stigma, help-seeking, and community experiences
Mental health conversations are stronger when they reflect our experiences, our strengths, and our stories.

💻 Learn more at https://puentelab.com/
▶️ Check out our YouTube Channel https://tinyurl.com/PUENTElabYoutube
📸 Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/puente.lab/
📲 Save this post and share it with your community

From lab meetings, deadlines, data collection, conferences, coffee runs, and countless memories… they made it 🎓✨Congratu...
05/28/2026

From lab meetings, deadlines, data collection, conferences, coffee runs, and countless memories… they made it 🎓✨

Congratulations to the newest graduates of the P.U.E.N.T.E Lab!
🎓 Julianna Martín
🎓 Katrina Hill
🎓 Melanie Menendez
🎓 Ésai Antonio García
🎓 Nelly Romero

We’re so proud of everything this team has accomplished, not only as students and researchers, but as people committed to uplifting mental health equity and serving our communities. Thank you for the laughs, support, whimsy, resilience, and hard work along the way.

The degrees were earned, but the impact is only beginning 💙

WPA 2026 🎓✨Our second year grad students of PUENTE Lab presented at this year’s Western Psychological Association Conven...
05/05/2026

WPA 2026 🎓✨

Our second year grad students of PUENTE Lab presented at this year’s Western Psychological Association Convention in Tacoma, WA 👏🏽

Huge shoutout to our presenters:

🧾 Melanie Menendez – Poster Presentation
🧠 Ethnic Identity as a Protective Factor in the Association between Ethnic Discrimination and Internalizing Symptoms among College Students at a Hispanic Serving Institution
(Co-authors: Julianna Martin & Dr. Jonathan Martinez)

🎤 Julianna Martin – Oral Presentation
🧠 Gender Differences in Coping as a Moderator of the Association between Acculturative Stress and Internalizing Symptoms for College Students at a Hispanic Serving Institution
(Co-authors: Melanie Menendez & Dr. Jonathan Martinez)

So proud of our students for contributing to research that centers and uplifts the mental health of Latinx college students 🤍

Celebrating innovative research at the CIRI conference 🧠✨ PUENTE Lab was proud to present at the 2026 CIRI Conference, ...
04/28/2026

Celebrating innovative research at the CIRI conference 🧠✨

PUENTE Lab was proud to present at the 2026 CIRI Conference, highlighting work on discrimination, resilience, mindfulness, and mental health among Latinx college students. 💛

HealthEquity

CSUNposium 2026 🎓✨So proud of the PUENTE Lab and to see our team show up and show OUT this year 👏🏽Huge shoutout to our p...
04/28/2026

CSUNposium 2026 🎓✨

So proud of the PUENTE Lab and to see our team show up and show OUT this year 👏🏽

Huge shoutout to our presenters:

🎤 Katherine Jimenez – 10-minute oral presentation
🧠 Resiliency as a Moderator of the Association Between Perceived Ethnic Discrimination and Internalizing and Physical Health Symptoms Among Second-Generation Mexican American College Students
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Martinez
(Co-authors: Julianna Martin & Melanie Menendez)

🏆🎤 Katrina Hill – 10-minute oral presentation (First Place)
🧠 Deepening Our Understanding of Self-Compassion: Psychometric Properties of the Self-Compassion Scale
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Ainsworth

🏆🧾 Ésai Antonio García – Poster Presentation (First Place)
🧠 Self and Public Stigma as Predictors of Latinx College Students’ Intentions to Pursue Graduate Training in Psychology
(Co-authors: Katherine Jimenez & Sophia Bradner)
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Bianca Villalobos & Dr. Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez


🧾 Jose Calvillo – Poster Presentation
🧠 Developing an Ethical and Applied AI-Integrated Curriculum in Health Administration: Imposter Syndrome, Professional Confidence, and Public Scholarship
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carmen T. Saunders-Russell

Grateful to be surrounded by brilliant, passionate researchers committed to advancing mental health in our communities 🤍

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18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA
91330

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