Clinical Skills, Assessment, and Ethics in Mental Health Services with Immigrants and Refugees

 ON-DEMAND WEBINAR

Instructors: Mark Kitzie, PsyD & Anthony Lequerica, PhD

Instructional Level: Intermediate

1 CE credit for Psychologists

1 CE credit for New York Psychologists (NYSED)

Duration: 1 hour

Price: $25

Description

Immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers (IRA) commonly experience significant stress and a lack of support which render them vulnerable and subject to life-long health consequences.  This presentation will serve as an introduction to providing mental health services for the IRA population. There will be an emphasis on understanding the IRA experience and presentation of symptoms through a cultural lens and how to improve cultural competence for those working with this population.  Common factors that underlie mental health problems such as acculturative stress and immigration trauma will be addressed.  Typical obstacles to mental health access for this population such as mental health stigma, distrust of service systems, and cultural and linguistic differences, as well as ways to overcome these barriers will be presented. There will be a focus on identifying mental health needs using practical tools and strategies to undertake screening and assessment for this population. Finally, ethical guidelines in working with this population will be addressed.   

Furthermore, with changing demographics in the U.S., there is a greater need to serve a more diverse population of individuals in the field of neuropsychology. Assessment of Spanish-speaking individuals requires more than just simple translation. Cultural adaptation, proper normative data applicable to the client, and sources of measurement bias need to be considered when administering, scoring, and interpreting neuropsychological tests. The second segment of the presentation will discuss important issues to be keep in mind in order to provide culturally sensitive assessment services to Spanish-speaking individuals.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to

• Identify 2 commonly used mental health screening procedures for refugees and immigrants
• List 4 common precipitants of mental health problems of immigrants and refugees
• Identify 3 common barriers to mental health care for immigrants and refugees and strategies to overcome them.

Instructors

Dr. Kitzie has been a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist for over 30 years.  He has worked in multiple capacities with culturally diverse youth and families over the course of his career.  He was a clinical director at a state residential facility for DCPP-involved adolescents for 30 years, completed forensic assessments for DCPP, and maintained a private practice focused on children and adolescents, He was most recently the clinical director at the Youth Development Clinic of Newark (YDC) before assuming the role of CEO.  As part of YDC services, he has focused on providing mental health services to immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in collaboration with NJ refugee organizations. Dr. Kitzie is an adjunct professor in the graduate program at Montclair State University and has coauthored several editions of a chapter on cultural and linguistic considerations in cognitive and clinical assessment in a widely used textbook for graduate students.    

Anthony H. Lequerica, Ph.D. obtained his doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Neuropsychology from Wayne State University. After his internship at the John D. Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Detroit, he completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in the Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training program sponsored by the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lequerica has had extensive post-graduate training in quantitative methods and has a fervent interest in measurement and psychometrics. He currently holds a dual position as Senior Research Scientist at Kessler Foundation’s Center for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Research with a clinical appointment as Staff Neuropsychologist in the Cognitive Rehabilitation Program at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. He is a Research Associate Professor at Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation where he lectures residents and fellows on quantitative methods and serves as a mentor to residents and fellows as they complete their independent research project requirements for graduation. As Director of the Brain and Behavioral Outcomes Lab, his major area of research focus lies in examining cultural issues and social determinants of health that affect outcomes after TBI. He is the Chairperson of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Special Interest Group within the TBI Model Systems funded by NIDILRR. He is a member of the Hispanic Neuropsychological Society and has been specializing in the delivery of neuropsychological services to Spanish-speakers. His secondary line of research examines sleep-wake regulation and sleep-dependent neuroplasticity among individuals with TBI. He has over 65 peer-reviewed publications and has given numerous presentations across the U.S. and abroad to researchers, health care professionals, and individuals with brain injury and their families.

The instructors do not have any commercial support and/or conflict of interest for this program.

**Please note that this webinar is a recording of a previously held live session. In order to receive CE credits, users will be required to pass a post-test after watching the video.**

Contact Us

For questions, please contact: ce@gsapp.rutgers.edu 

Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0123.

LMFT/MFT and LPC/LAC Licensed in New Jersey: Programs approved by the American Psychological Association are acceptable sources of continuing education credits. Please see https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/regulations/Chapter-34-Subchapters-10-31-Professional-Counselors.pdf, Section: 13:34-15.4 APPROVAL OF COURSES OR PROGRAMS on page 27. For all other professional licenses and certifications, please reference your issuing state board regulations regarding reciprocity of continuing education credits.

Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content.