Lizette Hernandez
Doctoral Student
Lizette Hernandez is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, working with Dr. Michael Medina in the Diversity & Development Lab. Her research examines how peer relationships, social contexts, and intersecting identities shape Latiné youth’s experiences of belonging and ethnic-racial identity development. Clinically, she is interested in bilingual, culturally responsive interventions and psychodynamic-oriented therapy in community health settings serving BIPOC communities.
Previously, Lizette served as lab manager and lead graduate research assistant in the Tamkin Qualitative Research Lab at Santa Clara University, where she studied reflective functioning in families of African ancestry and contributed to arts-based, translational tools grounded in qualitative research. She also studied and conducted research in Spain at the Universidad de Granada, where her master’s thesis examined rape-myth acceptance, dehumanization, and perpetrator blame attribution.
Before joining BU, Lizette worked with the Boys & Girls Club and in California public schools, teaching mathematics and science to grades 3–8 and later coordinating community partnerships and wraparound services. These experiences shaped her commitment to understanding youth within the social, cultural, and community contexts that influence their development and well-being.
Pronouns: she/her
Education
Masters, Social Psychology, Universidad de Granada
MA, Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University
BA, International Relations, Stanford University
Selected Presentations
Tamkin, V., Ehmer, A., & Hernandez L., (2026, October 6). Cultivating Diversity-Informed Reflection in Training and Early Clinical Practice [Brief Oral Presentation]. World Association of Infant Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
Tamkin, V. L, Hernandez, L., Palmer, J., Farrukh, Z., Tran, S., Wallerstein, & L., Veerapal. (2025, September 5). Reflective Functioning as Intervention: A Qualitative Exploration Of "Wondering and Imagining" Through an African American/Black Maternal Lived Experience [Poster Presentation]. International Society on Early Intervention, Lisbon, Portugal.
Hernandez, L., Palmer, J., Tran, S., Farrukh, Z., Wallerstein, L., Veerapal, S., & Tamkin, V. L (2025, August 7). Infinite Versions of Love: Reflection of Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination Against African American/Black Mothers [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association, Denver, Colorado.
Tamkin, V., Hernandez, L., & Torres, C. (2025, July 25) Reflective Functioning as Intervention: A Culturally Rooted Framework for Parents of African Ancestry [Conference session]. American Psychological Association Division 45, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Hernandez, L., & Tamkin, V. (2025, March 21) Mirror Mirror: Reflective Themes Observed and Learnings Gained from Debriefing Qualitative Interviews of Reflective Functioning in African American/Black Mothers of Young Children Birth to 24 Months of Age [Conference session]. The Qualitative Report, virtual.