Biography

Dr. Infante is a licensed clinical psychologist working at the University of Florida. She has a private practice and gives talks and workshops on positive aging throughout the lifespan. Dr. Infante has started Freedom in Aging website and consulting to further her mission of bringing psychological awareness to the inevitable challenges that come with aging.

She is a dedicated clinician and passionate speaker, helping people of all ages understand the importance of psychological process as it relates to the bigger picture of health later in life. Dr. Infante is committed to the belief that prevention occurs across the lifespan and that individuals must face the fact of aging long before the hardships set in. It is her goal to assist in creating a social and cultural shift where the transitions into old age and the end of life are less defined by anxiety and depression and more encompassing of relationship and meaning. She hopes to see a future where old age offers more opportunity for quality living, better health, and deeper meaning.

Dr. Infante’s diverse and interesting background give her an in-depth understanding of the complexities of aging. Originally born in Argentina and raised in Mexico City, she brings a cross-cultural sensitivity to the impact of culture on our self perceptions and perceptions of others. She received her Masters Degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University. It was there that she was introduced to Humanistic Psychology and developed an interest in alternative perspectives on health and healing. She participated in a cross-cultural examination of healing systems with the Lancondon Indians in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico. She was later invited to present on Native American ceremony at a conference in Yalta, Russia where the objective was establishing an open exchange with a group of Russian shamans. She has worked with anthropologists, psychologists, MD’s, and scientists in her pursuit of understanding healing.

Dr. Infante received her doctorate from The California Institute of Integral Studies where she wrote her dissertation on existential anxiety in old age. As a clinical psychologist in San Francisco, California, she worked in Latino community mental health, the UCSF Center on Aging, and as a mental health consultant to a UCSF senior medical center.

Dr. Infante’s clinical perspective is strongly influenced by psychoanalytic and existential psychology. She has worked extensively with aging patients and their families, helping them find meaning in their challenging circumstances. Dr. Infante learned that regardless of socio-economics, or cultural background, if one has not faced one’s emotional hardships and disappointments, the experience of physical deterioration and dependency become virtually unbearable with aging. Based on Dr. Infante’s work, she was asked to write and present a paper at the 2002 American Psychological Association, Psychoanalytic Division Conference that dealt with this same topic. The paper was extremely well received and continues to be used by psychotherapists throughout the United States who are dealing with patients facing the end of life.

Dr. Infante’s patients and her clinical experience have provided her with great incentive to address the serious task of helping people examine their lives with understanding as they grow older. Her own life experiences and her extensive clinical and research experiences have taught her that physical health and psychological health can not be compartmentalized. They are mutually dependent and need to be treated as a whole. The earlier in life one begins the conscious exploration and caring for the whole self, the better the chances of finding happiness in later life.

Dr. Infante is committed to helping individuals cope with the aging process earlier in life and is available for speeches, workshops and consultation on these topics.