Ben talks about how he came to Canada from Taiwan as an international student at 15 years old. He shares that he speaks Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, and English. He notes that after completing his Bachelor of Psychology degree, he worked for a non-profit organization that supported newcomers; he was able to use his language skills to bridge understanding. He voices the importance of being introspective as a cultural being, so learning is a lifelong journey.
Dr. Kuo is a Full Professor and the current Director of Clinical Training for the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA)-Accredited Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Windsor, and a registered and practicing psychologist in Ontario. His research focuses on the intersection between culture and psychology, particularly in the areas of multicultural counselling and training and cross-cultural psychology. Dr. Kuo is an experienced and active clinical supervisor who teaches and supervises clinical psychology graduate students in multicultural psychotherapy courses and practicum with diverse clients, including refugees and immigrants. As a clinician, Dr. Kuo has worked and treated international students, immigrants, refugees, racial/ethnic minorities, and non-minority individuals in the U.S., Canada, and Asia. Dr. Kuo works very closely with various community and health agencies/networks and is involved in policy initiatives, provincially and nationally in Canada. Dr. Kuo has traveled, lectured, provided training, and consulted internationally, as a distinguished visiting professor, inTaiwan, China, Thailand, New Zealand, Russia, Brazil, Poland, and the U.K. In 2018 Dr. Kuo served as the guest editor for the special issue of Psynopsis – the official communiqué of the CPA – on “Refugee Mental Health.” This year (2024), Dr. Kuo once again collaborated with Dr. Eleanor Gittens, the current President of the CPA, as co-editors for another special issue of Psynopsis on “People, Culture and Psychology: Diverse Voices from the Field.” Dr. Kuo is a recipient of many awards across research, teaching, service, and advocacy work; they include the Outstanding Research Award: Establish Research/Scholar Category (2017); the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science’s Dr. Kathleen E. McCrone Teaching Award (2017); and the Mary Lou Dietz Equity Leadership Award (2019). Most recently Dr. Kuo’s academic and professional contributions were recognized by the CPA, as the recipient of the John C. Service Member of the Year Award in 2021, and the Public Community Services, Human Rights and Social Justice in Psychology Award in 2023.
