LAURA MINERO, PHD

Dr. Laura Minero (She/Her/Ella) is a licensed psychologist and specializes in working with BIPOC, 2SQT+, Spanish-speaking and immigrant youth and adults via her independent practice Yolotl Libre Therapy, Training, and Consulting yolotllibre.com/. She earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from University of Wisconsin-Madison and has dedicated her life-affirming work to revolutionizing systems that adversely impact undocumented, queer, trans, and communities of color. She contributed to scientific studies used to inform national policy as a Science Policy and Technology Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her research on undocumented and asylum-seeking transgender immigrants and their lived experience at the intersection of cissexism, racism, and state-sanctioned trauma has been supported by Ford Foundation Predoctoral and Dissertation fellowship awards. Her dissertation critiqued US Detention and Asylum-seeking processes for incurring trauma and psychological sequela on Latinx, transgender immigrants and earned her APA’s Division 44’s (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity) 2020 Transgender People and Gender Diversity Research Award, the National Latinx Psychological Association’s Outstanding Dissertation Award, Association for Hispanics in Higher Education 1^st Place Dissertation Award, and the 2022 Outstanding Award from the Committee for Global Psychology, American Psychological Association. Dr. Minero completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior where she provided bilingual/bicultural, trauma-informed, affirming, and evidenced-based mental health services to LGBTQ+ youth and families, and developed trauma-informed curriculum and trainings for the Los Angles Department of Mental Health + UCLA Prevention Center of Excellence. She serves as an anti-raciest, community healing, liberation, LGBTQ+ and trauma-informed education consultant and has given numerous keynote speeches and trainings for international and national audiences. Dr. Minero has partnered with national immigrant and social justice-based organizations to create social media resources and mental health toolkits and resource guides for providers. In recognition of her contributions to enacting change, social justice, and being a champion for anti-racism, equity and liberation, Dr. Minero has received several state and national service awards from the National Latinx Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Association’s Division for Counseling Psychology and the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race. To learn more about Dr. Miner’s prior and ongoing experience, visit

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Dr. Laura Minero maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with Trans Immigrant Liberation Research Equipo, the University of Wisconsin, and UCLA. She received a grant from the American Psychological Association’s Division 44. Dr. Minero receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Non-financial: Dr. Laura Minero is an advocate for LGBTQ+ and anti-racist values.