“There is no health without mental health”
World Health Organization
Monday, August 13, 2012
Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina
700 Settlers Landing Road
Hampton, VA 23669
(757) 727-9700
9am to 4pm
Although refugees benefit from
protective factors such as spirituality and strong family support, they face
enormous social and economic factors that expose them to higher levels of
stress and disadvantages due to poverty, unemployment, lack of English
proficiency, discrimination and the trauma associated with the immigrant
experience. As many states become more diverse, it challenges providers
in the mental health system to adopt culturally and linguistically competent
ways to prevent, diagnose, treat and address barriers to appropriate and timely
mental health services. DBHDS is hosting a free training for mental health providers, refugee staff, volunteers
dedicated to exploring critical topics in refugee mental health.
Who should attend this conference?
This conference is ideal for all
professionals providing service, formally or informally, to immigrants and
refugees. These professionals include health care practitioners,
policymakers, settlement practitioners, volunteers, sponsorship agreement
holders, educators, general practitioners, psychiatrists, multicultural liaison
workers, translators, other human-related service providers, immigrants,
refugees and consumers interested in the practice of Mental Health.
Outcomes
·
To gain an understanding of the protective and
risk factors associated with mental health issues that refugees experience
while resettling in the US.
·
To understand the cultural nuances and their
impact on stigma and mental health treatment for refugees in the US
·
How to build stronger working relationships
culturally and linguistically to diverse individuals in mental health programs
·
Explore specific topics of concern for refugees
in Virginia
Understand the importance of and strategies for
language services for refugee individuals
This conference will be offered
for FREE under the Office of Newcomer Services -Virginia Refugee Health
Prevention Grant and hosted by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services and Virginia Council of
Churches, Refugee Resettlement Program. Six contact hours will be
provided by DBHDS.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS
AUGUST 6, 2012
·
Welcome
·
Overview of Issues in Refugee Mental Health-
Saara Amri, LPC
·
Break
·
CAN
·
Lunch
·
Interviewing Clients Across Cultures - Lisa
Fontes, Ph.D
·
Break
·
Breakout Sessions
· Suicide
Prevention among Refugees- Lisa Fontes, PhD.
· Enhancing Language Services for Better Mental
Health Outcomes- Vilma Seymour
· Substance Abuse and Alcoholism among Refugees –
Nhat Nguyen, MSW, QMHP
· African refugees in the United States- Alimatu S
Mustapha-Palmer, NCC; LPC; SCAC; CCDVC
About the Speakers
Lisa Aronson Fontes, PhD, has
dedicated two decades to making the mental health, social service, and criminal
justice systems more responsive to culturally diverse people. She is the author
of Interviewing Clients Across Cultures: A Practitioner’s Guide and Child Abuse and Culture:
Working with Diverse Families. She has written numerous
journal articles and chapters on cultural issues in child maltreatment and
violence against women, cross-cultural research, and ethics. She teaches at the
University of Massachusetts. She has worked as a family, individual, and group
psychotherapist, and has conducted research in Santiago, Chile, and with Puerto
Ricans, African Americans, and European Americans in the United States. Dr.
Fontes is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. She is a popular conference speaker
and workshop facilitator. Dr. Fontes completed a Fulbright Foundation Grant in
Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a volunteer, Dr. Fontes worked for three years with
Somali refugees in Springfield, Massachusetts. Visit her website
at: www.LisaFontes.com
Saara
Amri. LPC, A doctoral student in
counseling at George Mason University, Saara Amri has been working with the
refugee, immigrant, and torture survivor population for 11 years. Saara is a
licensed bilingual mental health counselor and co-coordinator of the Program for
Survivors of Torture and Severe Trauma, Multicultural Human Services at
Northern Virginia Family Services in Falls Church, Virginia.
Alimatu
S Mustapha-Palmer, NCC; LPC; SCAC; CCDVC
Alimatu S. M. Palmer is a licensed mental health and human
services visionary professional who has consulted and worked in various
capacities with a number of organizations for over 20years. She was born
in Freetown Sierra Leone and immigrated to the US as a student who left her
country one day after her high school graduation. She is currently the
founder and executive Director of the Heritage Multicultural Programs and
Services, Inc. The agency is licensed and offers trainings,
consultation and multiple programs and services, including cultural and diversity
services, counseling and therapy, crisis intervention services, substance
abuse/ addictions treatment services, grief and loss counseling, case
management and other support services. Alima initially gained Certification in
Substance Abuse Counselor in the State of Virginia, and a Registered Addiction
Counselor in the District of Columbia respectively. Mrs. Palmer then
gained licensed and certifications in multiple states as follow: Licensed
Professional Counselor in DC and Virginia respectively, Clinically Certified
Domestic Violence Counselor, Clinically Certified Forensic Counselor, FEMA
Certified Crisis/Disaster responder, Certified Social Work Practitioner. She is
currently affiliated with several boards and organizations including, but not
limited to APA, ACA, National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME),
and the American College of crisis and stress debriefing. In her quest to
contribute to the improvement of humanity internationally, Mrs. Palmer and her
team have undertaken several projects in her native country Sierra Leone, which
is recovering from a very brutal ten years (blood Diamond) civil war.
Under the Bridges Gap Project in Sierra Leone the team is currently mainly
focused on the newly launched (2011) Orphanage and Youth Empowerment project
center in Freetown. They also continue to collaborate and support
multiple projects including the UCC feeding program, Faith Orphanage Project,
Totkeleh water well project, the Youth Literacy Project.
Nhat Nguyen, MSW, QMHP, QMHCM
Along with his family in the
1975, Mr. Nhat Nguyen arrived to USA as a Vietnam War refugee. After
transplanting to Virginia, he completed his undergraduate in Clinical
Psychology from George Mason University. He obtained his Masters in
Social Work from the Virginia Commonwealth University. He is currently
working for the Fairfax County Community Services Board. He has worked
various settings serving adults and youths with serious mental health,
intellectual and/or substance using disorders. Currently he is working as
clinical supervisor with Adult Outpatient Services providing substance use and
mental health co-occurring disorder treatment. He has a personal and
professional passion and commitment to enhance cultural and linguistic
competence throughout Fairfax County CSB. He has been involved with the
IDS Diversity Committee and CSB Cultural/Linguistic Competence Steering
Committee. Currently he is the vice-chair of the statewide Cultural and
Linguistic Competence Steering Committee, and chair of the Policy subcommittee.
Nhat is serving on the Northern Virginia Area Health Education Center’s
Interpretation in Mental Health Setting workgroup. Currently he is
responsible for the development of the Peer Recovery Support Services for
Outpatient Services. He has presented various topics and training of cultural
and linguistic competence including the Stigma of Mental Health among
Asian-Americans, Competent Care and Cross-Cultural Communication,
Interpretation in Mental Health System of Care, Disparities across Systems of
Care, and debriefings on promoting and improving services to culturally and
linguistically diverse individuals.
Vilma
Seymour,
Vilma Seymour, President of
Multilingual and Cultural Solutions, holds a BA in Foreign Languages/Spanish
and is an experienced healthcare conference presenter because of her personal
interaction with immigrants, refugees and limited English proficient
populations. Her extensive research and collaboration with clinicians and
community leaders led to her ability to develop and implement the first
sustainable language services program within the only Level I Trauma Center in
Central Virginia and its satellite clinics. As an advocate for
underserved populations, Vilma is passionate about ensuring compliance of
federal mandates pertaining to providing meaningful access of oral and written
interpreter/translation services to limited English proficient
populations. She is a licensed medical interpreter and cultural
competency trainer for the following national programs created by Cross Cultural
Healthcare Program (CCHP), Seattle, WA and The Medical Interpreter Project,
(MIP) Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix, AZ.
