Andrea (“Drea”) Letamendi, PH.D.

she/her

Dr. Andrea (“Drea”) Letamendi is a licensed clinical psychologist who received her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCSD. Dr. Letamendi currently serves as the Interim Director of the UCLA RISE Center and the Associate Director of Mental Health Training, Intervention, and Response for Residential Life at UCLA. She is dedicated to her role as a mental health advisor and educator for students, staff, and faculty, and as a consultant to campus partners in the areas of student mental health, healing, and resilience. In collaboration with student affairs professionals, Dr. Letamendi revised and implemented the UCLA campus suicide prevention and response model, called Suicide Safe

Dr. Letamendi contributes to public health education by using the intersections of science and superheroes. To bring psychology to wide audiences and help others bridge the worlds of fantasy and reality, she hosts podcasts and deliver seminars, panels, and keynotes at universities, organizations and comic conventions. Since 2010, Dr. Letamendi has served as a psychological consultant for comic book writers and other creatives interested in portraying aspects of mental health. As a pop culture enthusiast, she has been featured in commentaries for film and television produced by SyFy, CNN, MTV, and Warner Brothers/DC Comics, to name a few.

In her TEDx Talk about resiliency and superheroes, Dr. Letamendi delivers an autobiographical story about coming to terms with her own self-doubt and imposter syndrome, aptly titled, “ Capes, Cowls and Courage,” which can be found on Youtube.

Favorite self-care practice: Reading comics and graphic novels often helps me escape. I’m currently learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons!

Fun fact: I host two podcasts – one is about Batman and psychology, called The Arkham Sessions, and the other is about fandom and Star Wars, called Lattes with Leia.

How would you define resilience?

Resilience is a state of mind. It is our ability to confront our self-doubts, our willingness to learn from our failures, and our perseverance as we ready ourselves for challenges ahead.

What does wellness mean to you?

I believe that wellness is the holistic caring of the brain and body, and this means different things to different people. I support the idea of candid self-care, which is the intentional practice of matching wellness practices not to the performative cues we see in media, but to one’s own personal origins, cultural values, and present state in order to meaningfully restore oneself.