Maria Mungía, Ph.D.
Senior Consultant
Dr. Maria Munguía is Mexican American and was born into the borderlands of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. She was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for over 20 years and practiced individual, family and group therapy at University of New Mexico Children’s Psychiatric Center, Programs for Children & Adolescents, for over 13 years. After retiring, she transitioned to
teaching at New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU), Facundo Valdez School of Social Work as Assistant Professor. Dr. Munguía taught human diversity and multicultural theory, clinical practice, and qualitative research in the Bilingual Bicultural Program at NMHU. She is currently engaged with multiple community based groups in Ventura County, and serves as consultant to the Santa Barbara Department of Behavioral Wellness.
Dr. Munguía earned her GED from Houston Community College, B.A. in Psychology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, a Master of Social Work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, completed a Post-MSW Clinical Social Work Fellowship and a 2-year Relationship & Family Therapy Program at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kansas. She earned her PhD at the University of New Mexico in the Department of American Studies. She remains committed to ongoing interdisciplinary studies and community engagement.
In December of 2018, Dr. Munguía relocated from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Santa California to be close to her only child and grandchildren.