Therapist Analyzes Issues in Latin Love

When it comes to personal relationships, Southern California’s best-known Latina psychologist says, Latin Americans face additional challenges.

“Our cultural values frequently clash with those of the mainstream culture, and we must cope with a unique set of social pressures,” says Ana Nogales. “These special circumstances can’t help but affect how we relate to the people we love.”

Nogales, a Yorba Linda resident with a doctorate in psychology, is best known for “Aqui Entre Nos” (“Here Between Us”), her daily talk show on KWHY-TV Channel 22, and her weekly column of the same name in the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion.

As a private therapist with offices in Santa Ana and Los Angeles, Nogales has specialized in the issues facing Latinos since 1980.

Now she has written a book on the subject.

“Dr. Ana Nogales’ Book of Love, Sex and Relationships: A Guide for Latino Couples” (Broadway Books; $23), written with Laura Golden Bellotti, is billed as the first definitive guide to relationships for the Hispanic market. It has been published in simultaneous English and Spanish editions.

In her book, filled with case histories, Nogales explores the ways cultural values clash with intimate relationships--from dating problems to marital power struggles, from misunderstandings in the bedroom to conflicts over raising children.

Says Nogales, an Argentine native married to a first-generation Mexican American: “There is a huge need for straight talk--hablar abiertamente--about what happens to couples when they try to transplant Hispanic family values to the U.S.”

Her book, she says, is intended to help them preserve the best of both cultures.

Nogales will sign copies of her book at 4 p.m. today at Martinez Books & Art Gallery, 200 N. Main St., Santa Ana.

*

UC Irvine Extension will hold its free Writers’ Program Spring Open House from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Room 1100 and the courtyard of Social Science Plaza A on campus.

Instructors who will speak include: Kern Konwiser, a producer, director and screenwriter for film and television, and Ann Linthorst, author of three nonfiction books.

For more information, call (714) 824-5414.

*

Crime novelists Jan Burke, Maxine O’Callaghan, Martin J. Smith and Taylor Smith will speak at Cal State Fullerton Library’s Orange County Authors Luncheon at noon Friday at Embassy Suites, 900 E. Birch St., Brea. Cost: $20. Reservations, which must be made by Monday, are required. (714) 278-2590.

Also this week:

* T. Jefferson Parker, author of “Where Serpents Lie,” will speak and sign at 1 p.m. today at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster.

* Poet and English teacher Michael Kramer will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by reading the works of Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney at the weekly meeting of the North Orange County Poetic Continuum at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Springfield Conference Center, 501 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton.

* Jonnie Jacobs, author of “Murder Among Us,” and Janet Dawson, “Witness to Evil,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Thursday at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St. Westminster.

* Arlene Voski Avakian, editor of “Through the Kitchen Window: Women Explore the Intimate Meanings of Food and Cooking,” will appear with contributing authors Martha A. Ayres, Ketu H. Katrak and Beheroze Shroff, who will read and discuss their works at noon Thursday at the bookstore in the Student Center at UC Irvine.

* Jeannette Gardner, author of “Staying Abreast”--a compilation of poetry, passages and personal essays from breast cancer survivors, their friends and family--will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Friday at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea.

* Novelist Charlotte Maclay will discuss “Writing on the Left Side” at the National Writers Assn. luncheon meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Claim Jumper Restaurant, 18050 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley. Cost: $25 for nonmembers. For reservations, call (714) 960-2581.

* Poet Marsha Cohee will read at Steel and Ivy: Poetry at Chapman at 8 p.m. Saturday in Argyros Forum at Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Admission: $4.

* Jacque Daniel, author of “How to Network (and Prospect) Your Way to Prosperity,” will conduct a free seminar at 10 a.m. Saturday at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea.

Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, Life & Style, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.