Mental Health Aspects of Diagnostic Immigration Evaluations

Mental Health Aspects of Diagnostic Immigration Evaluations

Where:

A Zoom Presentation

When:

Friday, September 17th, 2021

11:30 to 1:00 PM

1.5 CEUs

Cost:

FREE for Desert CAMFT Members

$20 for Non-Members

Presenter:

Lorena P. Frey, LMFT

Presentation Description

Immigrants seek refuge in the USA for multiple reasons, and there are legal means for them to petition their cause. However, most clinicians are unaware of how it is within their scope of practice to perform an integral role in an applicant’s immigration process.

Clinicians may conduct an assessment, use the DSM-V to derive a mental health diagnosis and advocate for their client by providing a diagnostic evaluation to document how the immigration process has impacted the immigrant or family.

In this workshop, clinicians will gain a basic understanding of how they can advocate for their clients, develop referral sources, and provide pro bono work and fee work for immigrants.

Measurable Objectives

Based on the learning in this course, participants will be able to:

1.     Clinicians will be able to identify the criteria for seekers of Asylum, VAWA, T-Visa, U-Visa, and Family Sponsored Visas

2.     Identify the ways that the immigration process effects the mental health of immigrants petitioning for Visa’s

3.     Describe three ways how a clinician’s diagnostic evaluation can help an applicant’s case.

Presenter Bio

Lorena P. Frey, LMFT: is a bilingual marriage family therapist, qualified supervisor, forensic examiner, and victim advocate. As a therapist, I have worked in juvenile custodial settings, contract agencies, and private practice. I specialize in working with children, adolescents, adults, and families experiencing duress due to mental health disorders. Over the past ten years, I have provided hundreds of families with diagnostic evaluations to accompany their petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCSIS) for legal resident status in the United States.