The AAMFT Blog

Working with Immigrant Families

Over the past decade, the Latino/a population in the United States has increased, and Latinos now account for a large sector in the total U.S. population. Immigration is a major source for this influx and has been largely motivated by immigrants who want to escape violence, war and poverty from countries such as Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador. As Latino immigrants come to the United States, some are able to apply for paths towards citizenship, while many remain with undocumented status. Having undocumented status prevents many individuals from finding stable work or having access to other state resources. Yet despite the legal barriers and stresses of acculturation, many are able to settle into the United States and form families. It is estimated that 20% of children in the United States are growing up in immigrant homes (Suarez-Orozco, Todorova & Louie, 2002). The immigrant families in the United States are evolving and generating what we know as “mixed-status” families. Mixed-status families refer to those who have individual family members with different legal statuses. A common example is a family where both parents are undocumented immigrants and the child is born a United States citizen.

With the rise in immigration enforcement, these families experience many risks and face unique circumstances. Mixed-status families face daily fear of ICE raids, economic hardship and acculturative stress. They are also vulnerable to deportation and unprecedented separations where families are torn apart abruptly, leaving U.S. born children in a state of limbo. The deportation of a parent can bring on emotions of grief, rejection and abandonment as well alter attachment styles. These effects brought on by the forced separation shape the way children relate to others and may also impact how they perceive intimate relationships as adults. Many adult children of deported parents report feelings of shame, fear and an inability to trust others when reflecting on their experience (Espinoza, 2015).

The family shift that deportation triggers can have a long-standing impact on an individual’s emotional and psychological development. As we strive to be culturally sensitive clinicians, we have a responsibility to educate ourselves with the unique needs of this population. By attending the workshop “Working with Individuals and Families Impacted by Deportation.” at AAMFT 2016, mental health professionals will be given the opportunity to acquire skills in treating individuals and families impacted by deportation. Participants will learn how to apply culturally sensitive interventions for this group as well as learn how to engage these marginalized families in order to provide effective treatment.

» Choose session 505 Working with Individuals and Families Impacted by Deportation during registration, or if you are already registered for AAMFT16, call us at 703-838-9808 to change your session. 

Sandra Espinoza is a Visiting Assistant Professor for the Couple and Family Therapy program at Alliant International University, Los Angeles. She holds a Psy.D. in Couple and Family Therapy from Alliant University and has years of experience working in community mental health treating the Latino population. She focuses her research on issues of immigration, deportation and the impact these systems have on mental health and attachment styles. 

Building Pathways of Success for Latinas in MFT Training

Currently, the Latino population comprises the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. yet is disproportionally underrepresented within MFT graduate training programs, both in terms of faculty and students. While existing literature has focused on how MFT training programs can become culturally sensitive, attract and retain students from ethnic minorities, and subsequently produce culturally competent therapists able to meet the needs of underserved communities, few studies have focused on the experience of Latinos specifically. Additionally, some attention has been paid in the literature to cross-cultural collaborations among students and faculty but specifics regarding what works and doesn’t work, as well as implications for developing respectful, positive, and supportive faculty-student relationships are not as prevalent.

My own personal experience as a Colombian female in MFT training led to the development of an original study that explored the lived experience of Hispanic/Latina females training in MFT in the United States. Utilizing interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), I examined the impact culture and gender had on the training experiences of 12 Latina students and professors in various stages of MFT training. The findings highlight the wide range of complex, rich, and sometimes challenging experiences of Latinas as they aim to succeed in academia. The results of the study illustrate circumstances in which Latinas struggle in environments where diversity issues are not well attended to, marginalization is experienced, and the Latino culture is discounted. Additionally, the findings bring to light the lack of crucial support and mentorship from other Latinas available in the field but also expand on the unique experiences of Latinas who are thriving in academia. These findings have implications for the future training of Latinas, including what MFT training programs, faculty, and supervisors can do to ensure the continued growth of Latina/o representation in the field. Furthermore, through the process of conducting this study, I developed a successful cross-cultural mentorship relationship with my faculty chair. The process of working together was explored during a videotaped dialogue that took place during an MFT graduate class in which the mentorship relationship was dissected to unveil elements that facilitated or impeded positive collaboration.

In the upcoming AAMFT Conference workshop entitled Building Pathways of Success for Latinas in MFT Training, participants will learn of both the successes and struggles of Latinas training in MFT and how gender and the Latino culture play a role in their academic experience. Additionally, participants will learn how training programs can better meet the needs of Latino students and discuss the importance of creating a community of Latinos and increasing collaboration across all MFT training programs in the U.S. Audience members will be engaged in a dialogue about how the field of MFT can continue to improve upon the training of future family therapists and address the lack of diversity in the field. Video excerpts will be shown in order to encourage further discussion and build upon the ideas and findings of the research and the experiences of the presenters and audience members.

» AAMFT16 is in Indianapolis from September 15-18. Register here! If you are already registered and would like to attend this session (210) call our office at 703-838-9808.

Laura Milena Ganci is the Director of Research and Evaluation for the Children’s Services Council of Broward County, where she oversees the performance evaluation of nearly 150 funded programs.  She holds a Ph.D. in Family Therapy with her dissertation research focusing on the training experiences of Latinas in Family Therapy education.  She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Qualified Supervisor in the state of Florida.

Urgent Help Needed in Louisiana!

 

Max Becherer/AP

The American Red Cross is currently deploying new disaster mental health (DMH) volunteers to support the disaster response efforts in Louisiana. They have about 10,000 people in shelters, 24,000 households have been affected, and at least 7 people have died as a result of this disaster. Please see this flyer for more information.  Independently-licensed MFTs are eligible to serve as Red Cross DMH volunteers. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Medical Family Therapy in Primary Care: Research Updates

The excerpt below from Family Therapy Magazine is by Jennifer Hodgson and Daniel Marlow. Jennifer is co-presenter of one of the workshops chosen for AAMFT16. Interested in this topic and many others featuring the latest clinical issues in the field of marriage and family therapy? Explore the workshops and register here for AAMFT16 in Indianapolis, IN on September 15-18. 

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There has been an explosion of research and opportunities in healthcare for family therapists in the past 15 years. We have an opportunity, now more than ever, to apply systems concepts and family therapy approaches to patients receiving medical care and their family/support systems. The challenges we have are actual (e.g., insurance, such as Medicare) but not insurmountable. We need to position ourselves as professionals who are trained in integrated care, who know how to help change occur at the relevant systemic levels, work with more than one person in the therapy/exam room, be cost and clinically effective at it, and trained to collaborate with healthcare teams and providers. To ensure our place in this movement, we must be working now to train ourselves and the next generation of marriage and family therapists (MFTs) to do this work.

To be prepared means knowing and doing the necessary research on clinical, operational, and financial sustainability models. These three worlds in healthcare need to be considered simultaneously when entering into any healthcare setting (Peek, 2008; Peek & Heinrich, 1995, 1998). Family therapists may need to learn a new language, models of collaboration, and how to provide clinical care outside the box (literally outside the four walls of your office and in under 20 minutes).

Why is this Important?

Despite mental health providers’ (MHP) efforts to de-stigmatize psychotherapy services, most American adults prefer to have their behavioral health needs met by their primary care provider (Kessler & Stafford, 2008; Reiss-Brennan, 2010; Strosahl, 1994). With as many as 70 percent of primary care visits having a psychosocial component (Fries, Koop, & Beadle, 1993; Gatchel & Oordt, 2003), and up to 84 percent of the most common primary care symptoms found to have no known organic cause (Kroenke & Mangelsdorff, 1989), there is a place for mental health in medical settings, such as primary care; now known as the defacto mental health system (e.g., DeGruy, 1996). 

read more: The Role of MFT in Healthcare: Models of Collaboration FTM, July/August 2011, Vol. 10, #4

206 Medical Family Therapy in Primary Care: Research Updates

Jennifer Hodgson, Angela Lamson

Increasing numbers of family therapists are securing positions in primary care settings as integrated behavioral healthcare leaders, clinicians, and researchers. This presentation will highlight current trends in primary care involving family-centered models, integrated behavioral healthcare research, opportunities for clinical and research initiatives, and a blueprint for getting your professional foot in the primary care door. Register

Jennifer Hodgson, PhD, LMFT, is an associate professor in the Departments of Child Development and Family Relations and Family Medicine at East Carolina University.  She is a Clinical Member of the AAMFT, an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, COAMFTE Commissioner, and a longtime member of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association. She is president of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association and has published in several journals and has given several presentations locally and nationally on collaborative and integrated care.