Sample Lecture Topics (from the past)

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1. Who Are Our Clients?

Understanding Forced Migration

• Refugees, asylum seekers, TPS and SIV holders, and others with limited or evolving protections

• What does immigration status mean for clinical access and mental health outcomes

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2. The Service Landscape: What’s Changed Since January 2025

• Overview of the former refugee resettlement infrastructure (e.g., Resettlement and Placement, wraparound models)

• Impact of funding cuts: How federal changes affected NGOs, clinics, and community support

• What remains: skeleton crews, grassroots nonprofits, churches, and small clinics stepping in

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3. Clinical Implications: Meeting Clients Where They Are

• Trauma-informed approaches when formal systems are no longer intact

•  How culture, language, immigration status, and policy changes show up in the therapy room

• Reframing symptoms: grief, somatization, fear, distrust, and hope

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4. Tools That Work Now

• Adaptable screening and support tools (SUDS, RHS-15, SPR, Pathways to Wellness)

• Building trust with cultural brokers, interpreters, and families

• Introduction to YTT (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow): art-based tools for emotional healing

 

5. Trauma Stewardship in a Fractured System

• Sustainable caseload models and trauma stewardship principles

• How policy burnout affects helpers—and how to stay regulated and connected

• Systems-thinking for mental health providers in times of institutional breakdown

 

6. Reflective Engagement & Clinical Dialogue

• Option for case consultation or peer learning dialogue based on participants’ interest

• Facilitated reflection on subtle organizational shifts (e.g., data access, client exclusion, censorship)

• Thoughtful inquiry into the broader context: What are we noticing in our systems? What does safety, neutrality, or resistance look like in our current roles?

• Guided case discussion space: processing complex clinical presentations and ethical dilemmas within the context of safety, neutrality, or resistance.

 

7. Creating Awareness and Building Bridges

• Realities of refugee pathways and policy impacts—presented with empathy and clarity

• How to talk about forced migration in diverse professional settings

• Encouraging respectful dialogue across belief systems while centering impacted communities

 

Optional Add-On Modules For deeper sessions or tailored team trainings:

• Mental Health & Cultural Orientation: Working with families new to U.S. systems

• Interpreting Clinical Conversations: The three-way therapeutic alliance

• Field-Based Workflows: Practicum team designs, asylum evaluations, and clinical interventions

 

This training is flexible in length and can be adapted for workshops, intensives, or multi session formats. It is designed to meet professionals at all levels of understanding and provides grounded, field-tested insight into post-migration mental health work—anchored in both compassion and clinical clarity.

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Think you are interested in learning more about  those that have experienced forced migration through a clinical lens?

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