Katherine Elliot
(University of California, Santa Barbara)

Katherine Elliott has a Master's degree in counseling psychology. She is currently working towards a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Counseling/Clinical/School Psychology Program, Department of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara. She has worked with bilingual and monolingual Spanish-speaking populations in her capacity as a school-based counselor for two years and in her practicum with local social service agencies. She is currently counseling child abuse victims and perpetrators as part of her external practicum experience. In her research, Katherine has focused on the linguistic minority experience. In the study presented, she examines the experience of linguistic minority children and families in dealing with acculturation and acculturation stress. She intends to continue working with linguistic minorities, both in her clinical work and in her research.

Merith Cosden
(University of California, Santa Barbara)

Merith Cosden is a Professor, and Director of the Office of Research, for the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Cosden received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1980. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Chicago Institute for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, before coming to UCSB in 1982. She has also been a licensed psychologist in the state of California since 1983. Dr. Cosden has over 50 publications on research related to children with special needs or at risk for school failure. Her specific areas of research include the study of the social needs of children with learning disabilities, and differences in the early schooling experiences of Anglo and Latino children. She is particularly interested in factors which relate to risk and resilience within populations of learning disabled or "at risk" youth. Over the past five years she has expanded her study to include clinical populations. In this domain, she and her students have looked at treatment outcomes for children and adults in counseling, and have been involved in the evaluations of substance abuse treatment programs serving men and women, including a Drug Court.