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Session 2 of Rising Practices & Policies Revisited - Uplifting Supports, Strengths, and Healing for Refugees from War

3:00pm - June 12, 2023 | Timezone: US/Pacific
Pacific Southwest MHTTC
Registration Deadline: June 12, 2023
Register

MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2023

Main Session: 3:00 - 4:15 p.m. PT
Optional Discussion: 4:15 - 4:45 p.m. PT
[Find your local time zone here]

Session 2 of 4 in the "Rising Practices & Policies Revisited" 2023 Learning Series (view series page for full details)

 

Ongoing conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine and violence in Latin America and the Middle East, continue to elevate the need for mental health and school mental health systems, services, and supportive providers. We need to grow our knowledge and skills so that we can more sensitively respond to clients and students who are refugees from current and previous political crises.

Join us to hear from speakers across our region who have lived experience with the impact of war and whose practices and policies reflect attunement to war-recovery needs. These mental health and school mental health providers share strategies for working with individuals who have survived wars and navigated the ensuing primary, secondary, and vicarious traumas that resulted from this experience.

 

In this session, we explore the following questions and more:

  • What are fundamental elements of providing care and services to those who are war impacted?
  • What are ways that experiencing secondary or vicarious war impacts survivors’ recovery (e.g., how does seeing the war in Ukraine impact the mental health of Afghani refugees in California, Ecuadorian asylees in Arizona, or native Pacific Islanders in Guam)?
  • How can therapists, peer specialists, social workers, and other providers adapt services to ensure cultural humility and responsiveness?
  • What practices and policies have emerged in the past year to help us help?

 

 

Select comments and quotes participants shared during last year’s 2022 session:

“Really meaningful personal stories, and also examples of best practices of work with refugees as individuals, groups, and in community. Very respectful and trauma-informed.”
“New perspective, reflection, and realization. Especially to reflect on our own intention and to stay calm during secondhand/vicarious trauma and reflect and act with compassion.”
“Opening up the dialogue regarding how violence, war, and trauma is affecting our students, families, and staff on various levels was super impactful. Hearing from colleagues about their lived experience and perspective highlighted areas of opportunities within the work I do and the agency that I work for.”
“Skills that I will use when dealing with immigrant clients. Being an immigrant myself, I tend to have a lot of compassion helping those like me. I really like when Sharon said becoming a partner, not a savior. That was a very powerful statement. I really enjoyed all the information that was provided during this session.”

 

 

Presenters

 

Jose PatiñoJosé Patiño, MEd

José Patiño was born in Mexico, raised in the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix, Arizona. He migrated at the age of six with this family and is part of the 1% DACAmented people in the U.S. with a master’s degree. He is an educator, and an activist. José holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University. José became involved in the Immigrant Rights and Dreamer Movement in 2009. Ever since then José has been standing up against the injustices that undocumented immigrants face. He stopped a bus of undocumented immigrants who were set to be deported, engaged in a direct action where he interrupted President Obama’s speech, and has lobbied for the DREAM Act and Immigration Reform. Due to José’s activism he was featured in The Washington Post, MSNBC, NPR, Univision, Telemundo, Buzzfeed, Think Progress, among others. He was also featured in the documentaries The Dream is Now and Underwater Dreams. José serves as Vice President of Education & External Affairs with Aliento and leads the organization's efforts to gain instate tuition & access to scholarships for all Arizona students regardless of immigration status. He is proud to serve his community and believes in giving back. José serves in the National DACA Advisory Board for Teach for America as the Chair of Advocacy Committee. He is also a member of the Arizona Department of Education School Safety taskforce and a member of the City of Mesa Census 2020 taskforce.

 

 

Natalya (Natasha) BogopolskayaNatalya (Natasha) Bogopolskaya, Psy.D., NCSP

Dr. Natalya Bogopolskaya immigrated from Yalta, Ukraine (then Soviet Union) to San Francisco, California at age seven years. She speaks English, Russian, and French, and has studied six other languages. Dr. Bogopolskaya is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Her expertise also includes promoting protective factors and strengths for students of all abilities, families, schools, communities, and faith-based organizations in New York City’s Harlem and South Bronx, North and Southwest Philadelphia, Baltimore, and in her current residence, Los Angeles. Dr. Bogopolskaya earned a master’s degree from the Teachers College, Columbia University, and a doctorate in school psychology from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM). Her doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between resilience traits, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in suicide loss survivors. She is currently a school psychologist for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and a board member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Greater Los Angeles County Chapter. Dr. Bogopolskaya is also a consultant for Mzima Consulting and has been a featured consultant with L.A. Parent Magazine.

 

 

Stephanie NoriegaStephanie Noriega, LCSW

Stephanie Noriega is the Program Manager for the Newcomer Wellness Initiative for Oakland Unified School District. The program serves immigrant families who have recently entered the school district within their first 3 years of their arrival. She supports a team of Clinical Social Workers who provide educational assistance, referrals for medical care, legal aid and other basic needs across 15 secondary school sites. Stephanie was with the school district during the inception of the Newcomer Wellness Initiative helping shape its programming, eventually becoming the program manager. Stephanie attended the University of Southern California where she obtained her Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in adolescent adult development.

 

 

 

Session Moderator and Debrief Facilitator

Oriana Ides, PS MHTTC Training Specialist

 

 

Session Host and Debrief Co-Facilitator

Kristi Silva, PS MHTTC Associate Project Director, Evaluator

 

 

Priming Materials