School of Education

Dr. Roberto Gershon Swazo has served as a middle and high school teacher, school counselor in private and public schools, college counselor, and as a consultant for mental health practitioners. He is currently a professor and coordinator in the school counseling program at Indiana University Indianapolis. He has served in the same capacity at University of Northern Iowa (UNI), Cedar Falls, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida, and Roosevelt University (RU) in Chicago. In addition to teaching, Dr. Swazo is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and conducts workshops throughout the United States and abroad on multicultural issues and psycho-bilingual training (teaching basic Spanish interventions) for schools and mental health agencies. He has presented or has been invited as a keynote speaker in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Russia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, Spain, and Italy. He has taught as an invited professor at the Universidad del Valle in Guatemala in the school and mental health programs. He has published several professional articles, book chapters, and several books. His recent books are Fantasías e ilusiones desde el exilio (Fantasies and Illusions from Exile, 2nd edition), co-authored with Dr. Noelany Pelc, Narrative Therapy with Spanish Speakers: Creative Bilingual Strategies for Individual, Family, and Group Sessions, and The Bilingual Counselor’s Guide to Spanish: Basic Vocabulary and Interventions for the Non-Spanish Speaker. Dr. Swazo served as a Fulbright Specialist at the University of Palermo, Italy, and most recently at the Oscar Ribas University, Luanda, Angola (Fall 2023). He has a Professional Service License in School Counseling in the state of Iowa. Additionally, he is dual citizen (U.S. & European Union, Spain).

• Ph.D. Counselor Education; Oregon State University Dissertation Title: Perceptions of School Counselors when working with ESL Students. (1998)
• M.Ed. School Counseling and Guidance; University of Puerto Rico Thesis Title: School Counseling: Services to Gifted and Talented Bilingual Children (1995)
• B.S. General Sciences/Emphasis: Biology in Education; University of Puerto Rico. (1989)

• G522 Counseling Theory (IU Indianapolis)
• COUN Practicum in School Counseling
• COUN Foundations of School Counseling
• COUN Multicultural Counseling
• COUN Group Counseling and Processes
• COUN Leadership, Consultation, and Collaboration in Schools
• COUN Intervention and Prevention in Lifespan Development
• COUN Professional Orientation and Ethics in Counseling

• Bilingualism and Psycho-bilingual interventions
• Development of international partnerships with foreign institutions
• Empowerment of students and clients of ethnic and racially diverse backgrounds
• Application of existentialism and spirituality
• School counseling initiatives in urban school settings
• Diversity and multiculturalism

• Bilingualism and Psycho-bilingual interventions
• Development of international partnerships with foreign institutions
• Empowerment of students and clients of ethnic and racially diverse backgrounds
• Application of existentialism and spirituality
• School counseling initiatives in urban school settings
• Diversity and multiculturalism

• Swazo, R. & Celinska, D. (2021). Enhancing education and training: Language diversity among human service providers and interpreters. Journal of Modern Education Review, pp.846-852. ISSN: 2155-7993 DOI:10.15341/jmer(2155-7993)/08.11.2021/005
• Swazo, R. & Celinska, D. (2020). Multilingualism Redefined through the Lenses of Human Service Professionals: New Perspectives for Interpreters and Providers. Language and Intercultural Communication Journal.
• Celinska, D. & Swazo, R. (2019). Multilingual competence in human services: Implications for intercultural communication training. International Journal of Management and Applied Science (IJMAS), (5)2, pp.
• Swazo, R., & Celinska, D. (2018). Multilingualism in Counselor Education and Human Services Professionals: Implications for a New Training Paradigm. Michigan Journal of Counseling: Research, Theory, and Practice, (43)1. Retrieved on October 30, 2018, DOI: 10.22237/mijoc/1533600000
• Celinska, D., & Swazo, R. (2016). Multicultural Curriculum Designs in Counselor Education Programs: Enhancing Counselors-in-Training Openness to Diversity. The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 8(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.7729/83.1124
• Celinska, D., & Swazo, R. (2015). Intensive faculty-led international multicultural courses: Understanding the perceptions from students and improving the quality of course delivery by faculty. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(4), 127-136.
• Swazo, R. & Celinska, D. (2014). Cutting edge practices to teach multicultural competencies in counseling, psychology, and education: Teaching abroad or on campus? Intercultultural Education, 1, 1-9. DOI 10.1080/14675986.2014.886821
• Swazo, R. (2010). Consejería existencial para prevenir la violencia en los jóvenes puertorriqueños. (Existential counseling to prevent violence in Puerto Rican youth. Counseling Revista Profesional de la Consejería Puertorriqueña (P.R. Professional Counseling Journal, 23(1), 31-38. (Counseling Journal of the Puerto Rican Counseling Association)
• Swazo, R. (2007). Grupos de investigación colaborativa: Implantación de modelos comprensivos en programas de maestría en consejería. (Collaborative research: Implementing models into Masters programs) Revista Profesional de la Asociación Puertorriqueña de la Consejería, 1(19), 2-7. (Counseling Journal of the Puerto Rican Counseling Association)
• Swazo, R. (2006). Multiculturalism, academia, and social justice. Hispanic Outlook of Higher Education (November).
• Swazo, R. (2006). Haunted by a Latino ghost. Chronicle of Higher Education, June Section B(12).
• Swazo, R. (2004). In search of Latino intellectuals. Hispanic Outlook of Higher Education, 14(20), 21-23.
• Swazo, R. (2003). School and mental health counselors: Recommendations when working with Bosnian refugees. Dimensions of Counseling: Research, Theory, and Practice, 31(1), 9-16.
• Swazo, R., & Torres-Rivera, E. (2002). Consejería profesional: En busca de una Love.

• Development of international relationship and partnership with Oscar Ribas University in Luanda, Angola as part of a Fulbright Award.
• Development of a bilingual certificate (English-Spanish) for school and mental health counselors

Fulbright Awards:

1. University of Palermo, Italy

2. Oscar Ribas University, Luanda, Angola

• Bachelors in biology, Education. CUM-LAUDE
• Recipient of the Oregon Sport Lottery Graduate Fellowship
• Recipient of the American Counseling Association (ACA) Mentorship Program Award. Mentor, Dr. Courtland C. Lee, past president of the American Counseling Association (ACA)

Sample of Presentations:

Presentations – International

• Swazo, R. (2021). The state of the counseling profession in the US vs Europe. Presentation at the Alaadin Keykubat University, Alanya, Turkey.
• Swazo, R. (2019). The Effectiveness of Types of Multilingualism among Human Service Providers: A Case for European and North American Collaboration. IALIC. Translating Cultures-Cultures in Translation. Valencia, Spain.
• Swazo, R. & Celinska, D. (2019). Multilingual Competences among Human Service Professionals: What Matters for Intercultural Communication? IALIC. Translating Cultures Cultures in Translation. Valencia, Spain.
• Swazo, R., & Celinska, D. (2018). Multilingual Competence in Human Services: Implications for Intercultural Communication Training. International Conference on Psychology, Language and Teaching (ICPLT). Bucharest, Romania (November 23-24).

Presentations – National

• Swazo, R., & Pelc, N. (2022). Centering Social Justice and Liberation: Bi-Lingual Narrative Interventions for Spanish. Latinx Mental Health and Social Justice Institute. Seattle, Washington.
• Swazo, R., & Pelc, N. (2021). Bi-Lingual Narrative Interventions for Non-Spanish Professionals: A Focus on Liberation. Teachers College, Columbia University, NY.

Keynote Addresses or Presentations by Invitation

• Swazo, R. (2022). Language, Symbolisms and Reality: Re Constructing and Decolonizing the Latinx Identity in the U.S. Latinx Mental Health and Social Justice Institute. Seattle, Washington.
• Swazo, R. (2018). Diversity and multiculturalism: Empowering school counselors and teachers. Presentation at the Decorah School District’s Staff Training Day (October 1, 2018). Decorah, IA
• Swazo, R. (2017). The A-B-C of Diversity and Multiculturalism: Practical Applications to Empower Service Providers.The Iowa Board of Certifications (September 14-15), Des Moines, IA.
• Swazo, R. (2017). The Multicultural Competent Counselor: From Awareness to Skills (40th Annual Governor’s Conference on Substance Abuse, Iowa Events Center-Community Choice Credit Union Conference Center (April 18).

• Centro Latinoamericano, Waterloo, Iowa
• Development of International Study Abroad Courses in Europe

• American School Counseling Association (ASCA)
• American Counseling Association (ACA)
• North Central Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (NACES)