Claudette Santiváñez Antuña, MSW, ACSW, LICSW, MHSA, PsyD

Dr. Claudette Luz Santiváñez Antuña, 80, was an extraordinary, devoted, and loving mother to four children and grandmother to ten grandchildren. She was born in Lima, Peru and had three siblings, Patricia, Deborah, and David.

She loved her family dearly and would dedicate hours with them, whether it was watching sports together or cooking delicious Christmas meals. A flan, chocolate mousse, or brown sugar pecan bacon were some of our family's favorites. She was a vibrant, witty, and positive person, who worked hard and never complained.

She always put her family first and dedicated her life to providing for them. She was extremely passionate about her work. A bilingual and bicultural clinician fluent in both Spanish and English, Dr. Santiváñez Antuña built a distinguished career spanning social work, crisis intervention, healthcare administration, disaster mental health, immigration advocacy, and forensic evaluation. Her dedication to education and service began early. A strong, hardworking, and determined woman, she started her academic journey at the age of 17 and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Miami by the age of 20.

For decades, she was an advocate for vulnerable populations, providing psychological and forensic evaluations for detained and un-detained individuals seeking legal relief.

Dr. Antuña’s professional journey began in 1972 at the Stanford University Medical Center, providing direct care to pediatric populations and Spanish-speaking adult oncology patients. She then relocated to Florida, serving as a clinical social worker in various hospitals in Miami and then as the Director of Social Work Services at Miami Children’s Hospital from 1973 to 1986. There, she established the hospital's first dedicated social work department, expanding it into a robust clinical division. During her tenure, she secured a prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation intergenerational grant, managed a federal grant as the Psychosocial Faculty Coordinator to train pediatric residents, and launched a pioneering bilingual neonatal parent support network.

Her innovative fee-for-service model at Miami Children’s drew national attention, prompting hospitals like Palms West Hospital in Florida and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Virginia to hire her to develop their own clinical departments. She also testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 1985 regarding the medical treatment of handicapped newborns.

In January 1987, Dr. Antuña relocated to Seattle with her husband and four children, where she stepped into the role of Director of Social Work at Seattle Children's Hospital and Medical Center. She continued her career as Director of Social Work Services at Tacoma General Hospital from 1989 to 1991, successfully managing a clinical department. Over the decades, she served as Clinical Director and consultant for various hospitals, clinics, and state programs across the greater Seattle-Tacoma region, including holding long-term contracts with the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration and Sexually Aggressive Youth Services.

Alongside with her full-time leadership roles, Dr. Antuña was a dedicated emergency responder. Beginning in 1988, she volunteered extensively with the American Red Cross. As a member of the King County Critical Incident Management Team, she helped architect the Disaster Mental Health function for the Red Cross, eventually managing mental health operations during major regional emergencies.

Her trauma expertise extended to state labor forces; from 1997 to 2008, she served as the Clinical Director of the Peer Trauma Support Program for the Washington State Department of Transportation (Region IV). Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, her disaster leadership called her to the front lines. She was among the first mental health professionals to deploy, providing vital trauma counseling to police officers and firefighters operating in the aftermath at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and FBI sites.

Driven to deepen her clinical and forensic impact, Dr. Antuña returned to graduate school, earning a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University Seattle in 2012. Her doctoral dissertation focused heavily on systemic trauma, titled “A Profile of Domestic Violence: The Responding of Spanish-Speaking Female Survivors Seeking Lawful Immigrant Status in the United States Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) on the Personality Assessment Inventory.” Her defense committee comprised professionals in trauma psychology, including Dr. Laura S. Brown and Dr. Richard Mollica.

While completing her degree, she built a forensic psychological training pipeline. In 2006, she created a specialized practicum and internship program to answer the requests for forensic evaluations from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP). She went on to earn a Certificate in Global Mental Health from the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, participated in the APA’s Minority Fellowship Program Summer Institute, and published the article “Why cultural competence is not a myth-working with immigrants: Remember do no harm.” Decades later, she returned to higher education as an Adjunct Faculty member at Alliant International University in 2025.

Her forensic mental health advocacy within the immigration courts was a central pillar of her legacy. Beginning in 2003, the Immigration Courts in District IX formally recognized Dr. Antuña as an expert in mental health issues affecting individuals seeking legal relief. Over her career, she provided the USCIS Immigration Court with more than 3,500 written reports and gave oral testimony in approximately one-third of those cases, completing roughly 70% of this intense work completely pro bono.

Recognized as an expert on the effects of trauma and torture by the Department of Homeland Security, she regularly conducted neuro-cognitive testing for individuals seeking naturalization disability waivers. In 2012, she expanded her systemic footprint by becoming the Director of Professional Services for the Northwest Detention Center Roundtable Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest (AID-NW), supervising graduate students and case managers.

Her multi-system forensic expertise extended into the local courts. She consulted for the Tacoma Veterans Center starting in 2000, worked as an Affiliate Sex Offender Treatment Provider, and evaluated complex custody cases for the Washington Office of Public Defense, officially joining their expert list for parenting evaluations in 2024. From 2022 onward, she bridged local and international borders by providing virtual clinical supervision to students volunteering with the Refugee Health Alliance Mental Health program on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Dr. Antuña held influential national leadership positions within major psychological associations. She served as the Professional Development Coordinator and Continuing Education Chair for the National Latina/o Psychological Association (NLPA), and as the Immigration Task Force Chair for APA Division 52 (International Psychology). Additionally, she acted as the liaison between Divisions 52 and 56 (Trauma Psychology) on the Refugee and Asylum Network and served as the APA Diversity Delegate for the State of Washington.

Claudia is survived by her four children and their spouses, and their children, daughter Elena and husband Steve Nelson their two sons Christopher and Thomas, daughter Laura and husband James Capestany their four children Lucas, Alexis, June and Olivia, and son Eduardo and wife Kori and their two sons Manuel and Jace and daughter Rebecca and her husband Graeme and their two children, Jackson and Isabella. She was preceded in death by her husband Eduardo Antuña, 60 years old.

*Memorial Service: August 8, 2026, at 11:00 am PST at Chapel of St. Ignatius (Seattle University) 901 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

*A Celebration of Claudia’s Life will be immediately following the Memorial Service on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Eddie and Kori Antuña House, 19126 NE 151st Street Woodinville, WA 98072.

Her community impact earned her widespread institutional honors:

     - 2015: Received the APA Division 52 Outstanding Dedication and Service to Undocumented Immigrants Award and Awarded the Social Issues Award for community service by the Washington State Psychological Association.

     - 2018: Co-authored “Vulnerable but not broken: Psychological challenges and resilience pathways among unaccompanied children from Central America,” published by the Immigration Psychology Working Group.

     - 2018: Received the National Latinx Psychological Association’s Presidential Citation for her work as Professional Development Coordinator and her advocacy for the immigrant community.

     - 2019: Honored by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project with their Community Partner Award at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle.

     - 2022: Mercado, A., Antuña, C. S., Bailey, C., Garcini, L., Hass, G. A., Henderson, C., Koslofsky, S., Morales, F., & Venta, A. (2022). Professional guidelines for psychological evaluations in immigration proceedings. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 10(4), 253–276. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000209

Education

     - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology – Argosy University, Seattle (2012)

     - Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) – Florida International University (1982)

     - Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) credential (1978)

     - Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) credential

     - Master of Social Work (MSW) – Barry University (1975)

     - Bachelor of Arts (BA) – University of Miami (1966)

Other Articles:

     - Dr. Claudette Antuña — Roadmap for Change

     - Speaking of Psychology: On the front lines of the immigration crisis, with Claudette Antuña, PsyD

     - Dr. Claudette “Claudia” Antuña Recognized as a Professional of the Year for 2021 by Strathmore's Who's Who Worldwide Publication - PR.com

     - https://traumapsychnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Spring-2016-TPN_Final.pdf

     - https://www.nlpa.ws/assets/docs/newsletters/final%20lpt%20volume_4_no_1_2017.pdf

     - https://hnps.org/hhm-2021/cultural-neuropsychology-in-immigration-mental-health-evaluations/

     - SLIDES: Cultural Neuropsychology in Immigration Mental Health Evaluations - Hispanic Neuropsychological Society Webinar, September 29, 2021