Viviane Pecanha

A clinical and research psychologist, Dr. Viviane de Castro Pecanha began her education and career in São Paulo, Brazil. With a focus on cognitive and behavior analysis, she received a doctoral degree in the field of addictive and chemical behaviors at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Since 1998, Dr. Pecanha has worked to advance research and education for addictive disorders. She was part of an interprofessional team establishing the first research and treatment center in South America dedicated to Impulse Control Disorders. Dr. Pecanha also co-founded a non-profit organization offering pro bono training in mental health. She has provided both inpatient and outpatient psychological services for behavioral and chemical addictions at psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment facilities, and community counseling centers. Her career has been marked with opportunities focused on social justice and this is translated into her work in different parts of the work, including but not limited to Brazil, India, Nepal, South Africa, and Vietnam empowering communities to advocate for their rights.

Dr. Viviane Pecanha immigrated to the United States in 2005. While living in Los Angeles, she worked extensively with immigrant communities on issues of acculturation and served as a faculty at The Chicago School's PsyD program Los Angeles Campus. In 2009, she returned to Brazil, where she continued teaching in the Master's and Ph.D. programs in International Psychology through The Chicago School's online platform, further advancing the institution's global mission in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2020, Dr. Pecanha relocated to the United States for a second time, where she currently resides.

In 2012, Dr. Pecanha was appointed Associate Department Chair of the International Psychology (IP) Department. Six years later, she was promoted to Department Chair. Under her leadership, the IP Ph.D. program received the 2019 International Program of Excellence Award from the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education.

With The Chicago School's transition to the one university model, Dr. Pecanha was appointed Chair of the International Psychology Division, overseeing the IP programs both online and at the Washington, D.C. campus.

In the past recent years, Dr. Pecanha has contributed to APA Division 52, the Society for Global Psychology, as co-chair of the Membership Committee. In 2021, she was elected as the United States Representative for the Interamerican Society of Psychology and was soon after appointed as the Executive Secretary for the North Region.

In 2023, Dr. Pecanha was elected President of the Interamerican Society of Psychology, committing to a six-year term of service. She held Visiting Professor appointments in Puebla (Mexico) at the Universidad de Las Américas and in Rosario (Argentina) at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Dr. Pecanha has been writing books, book chapters, and publishing articles at the same time she supervises the dissertations of several doctoral students. The studies are conducted with international populations on the areas of cultural, cross-cultural, intercultural, and indigenous psychologies. Dr. Pecanha continues to support the development of graduates to serve as international transformational agents of change addressing the demands of our global societies, advocating for social justice and responsibility, and supervising core, affiliate, and adjunct faculty teaching at the international psychology programs.