Eugenio M. Rothe

Eugenio M. Rothe is a Latin-American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and academic. He is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Florida International University's (FIU) Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, where he is also a founding faculty member.

Rothe is an internationally recognized expert on the mental health of immigrant and refugee populations. He is the co-author of the book Immigration, Cultural Identity, and Mental Health (2020) and a co-editor of The WASP Textbook on Social Psychiatry (2023), both published by Oxford University Press. He is triple-board certified in General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Forensic Psychiatry.

Rothe has held numerous national leadership positions, including serving as president of the American Association for Social Psychiatry and as president-elect of the American Academy of Psychodynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis.

Education and training Rothe earned his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harvard University's Cambridge Hospital. Rothe also graduated from the Florida Psychoanalytic Institute with advanced training in adult psychoanalysis. He also teaches psychotherapy and human development seminars to psychiatry residents and supervises trainees in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program.

Scholarly work and research Rothe has authored over 95 scientific publications, focusing primarily on cultural psychiatry, refugee trauma, and medical education. He has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Cultural psychiatry and immigrant mental health Rothe's research examines the bio-psycho-social experience of migration, focusing on concepts such as acculturation, inter-culturation, and bicultural stress. He has documented pre- and post-migration stressors, including trauma, poverty, and discrimination, as key risk factors for this population. His work emphasizes the use of the personal narrative in psychotherapy to heal the "trauma of loss and dislocation" associated with the immigrant experience.

The study assessed 87 children who had been confined in the camps for up to eight months. It found that a majority reported moderate to severe symptoms of], with the most common symptom clusters being avoidance (67%), regressive behaviors such as bedwetting (64%), and re-experiencing traumatic events (60%). A key finding was a "dose-effect relationship," where the severity of PTSD symptoms correlated directly with the number of stressors a child was exposed to. Based on this work, Rothe developed a psychotherapy model for treating refugee children during the "peri-traumatic period"—the time between departure and arrival in a sheltering country—to mitigate long-term mental health consequences.

Medical professionalism curriculum At FIU, Rothe founded and directs the Medical Professionalism Course, a curriculum that uses psychodynamic principles to teach core competencies such as self-reflection and conflict resolution. Academic reviews have described the book as "comprehensive, readable, and authoritative" and an "essential tool" for professionals in the social sciences.

As a co-editor of the 2023 WASP Textbook on Social Psychiatry, an international textbook from the World Association of Social Psychiatry (WASP), Rothe helped assemble contributions from over 50 experts from 13 countries. The book addresses a wide spectrum of social determinants of mental health, including culture, gender, and the impact of contemporary global issues.

Selected awards and honors Distinguished Life Fellow, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Prevention, American Psychiatric Association Edward B. Harris Award for Medical Professionalism, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents, American Psychiatric Association Nancy C. Roeske Award for Excellence in Teaching Medical Students, American Psychiatric Association Lifetime Achievement Award, American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry FIU Top Scholar Award, Florida International University