Trauma-Informed Responses to Racial Injustice: Interventions for Immigrant, Diverse or Vulnerable Populations

CPD

Handouts

Speaker

Charissa Pizarro, PsyD Related seminars and products

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Dr. Charissa D. Pizarro is a bilingual (English/Spanish) licensed clinical psychologist with over 15 years of clinical experience working with diverse clinical populations. She has devoted her career to working with the underprivileged and most needy populations. At present, she heads two grant funded child protective services programs. Dr. Pizarro has a private practice where she treats presenting concerns such as depression, anxiety, trauma and adjustment disorders. In her private practice, Dr. Pizarro works with many undocumented individuals via immigration evaluations. Often individuals seek evaluation for hardship and pardon. The evaluations are often a determining factor in staying or leaving this country and in maintaining or dissolving a family unit.

Dr. Pizarro is an advocate for immigrant rights and belongs to the APA: Immigration Advocacy Working Group, in Washington, DC. This group works on advocating for policy changes related to immigration. Through her membership in the Latino Mental Health Association of NJ, Dr. Pizarro presented a pro bono workshop titled "Working with Latinx Populations: Special Considerations for Undocumented Immigrants and Survivors of Trauma." Dr. Pizarro is also a member of APA's Div 37 Diverse Racial Ethnic and Multicultural Special Interest Group (DREAM SIG). In November 2019, Dr. Pizarro was a delegate of the APA in Portugal.

Dr. Pizarro has been awarded multiple awards for her work with children and families as well as her work in social justice.  

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Charissa Pizarro maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Hoboken University Medical Center. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Charissa Pizarro is a member of the American Psychological Association, the New Jersey Psychological Association, the Postpartum Support International, and the Association for Play Therapy.

Objectives

1. Conduct a self-appraisal of cultural competence and cultural humility to raise self-awareness about your own values, biases and privileges and how they can affect your clinical work.
2. Assess specific risks and exposures immigrants face before and after entering the U.S. and how they can impact mental health.
3. Develop culturally sensitive treatment plans for working with immigrant populations that account for differences in languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and other factors.
4. Apply concrete and feasible strategies for assisting immigrant clients with advocacy, health and other direct service needs.
5. Utilize culturally sensitive coping skills exercises and psychoeducation to reduce fear and anxiety.
6. Apply trauma-informed practices from play therapy and sandtray therapy to assist immigrant children and families in telling their story.

Outline

Keys to Cultural Humility

• What is cultural humility – and how to make it work for you
• Cultural competency vs. cultural humility
• The necessity for cultural humility and cultural attunement
• Exercises for developing cultural humility

The “Journey Story” for Foreign Nationals & Immigrants

• Discern between varying diverse immigrant experiences.
• Risk assessment of foreign nationals and immigrants
• How to tell your story when it’s illegal, violent or misunderstood
• Tactical tools for addressing client trauma: “Telling My Story”

Appraising Unique Challenges of Foreign Nationals

• Understanding why some clients live in constant fear
• Deportation concerns and resources to address client needs
• Assessing needs related to family separations

Trauma-Informed Interventions for Foreign Nationals

• Processing experiences of rape, war, violence of the past
• Living with the fear of deportation and violence
• Rewriting the client narrative
• Psychoeducation & Coping skills exercises

Practical Tools for Advocacy, Basic Needs and Direct Services

• Assess why immigrants are vulnerable to increased risk for negative outcomes
• “Essential Worker” challenges
• Providing psychoeducation on medical and health needs
• How to help access advocacy & basic needs information
• Understanding food insecurity, shelter, health and other direct service needs

Culturally Sensitive Treatment Plans

• Assessment tools for immigrant PTSD
• Appraising racism and discrimination in relationships, family, work and community
• Creating clinician-client collaboration content
• Adopting language & acculturation methods
• Resilience, social support & specific coping mechanisms

Trauma-Informed Interventions for Children

• Play Therapy for retelling their story/narrative
• Differences in Play Therapy for vulnerable populations
• Sandtray Therapy for racism, discrimination, genograms
• Tools for building immediate & lifelong resilience

Interventions for the Family Unit

• Activities, Family Skills’ building
• How to honour past experiences and rebuild the Family Narrative

Research, Treatment Risks and Limitations

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Counselors
• Psychologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Educators
• Nurses