The webinar will address the presenters experiences working with refugees, lessons learned in team development, and a tool of “storytelling” they have used in working with refugees and children in several disaster affected communities. Storytelling, as a socio-cultural tool, can assist children by eliciting their thoughts, helping them identify distortions and make sense of their world, in order to develop coping techniques and build resiliency.
From work in disaster zones, Drs. Thomley and Khatri have developed storybooks as tools for communication, coping and recovery. While working with refugees in Greece the book “Home is Where the Honey Is” was developed in 5 different languages to encompass the refugee community there. A second edition of the book included a revised version to serve the growing population of unaccompanied minors.
The stories aim to start a process of learning and empowerment allowing children to view a situation of adversity and positively redefine their own experiences. The storytelling process will be described as to how to engage children as well as their families, teachers, caregivers and communities, to assist the community in supporting their own recovery.

Presented by:

Elizabeth Carll, PhD
Rebecca Thomley, PsyD
Roshan Khatri, MD

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe the standards of practice for interpreters.
2. Participants will be able to state the steps to structure the interview prior, during, and after the interactions with the interpreter
3. Participants will be able to describe how to utilize interpreters to the best advantage of the asylum seeker.
4. Participants will be able to recognize the interpreter's proficiency during the course of an asylum evaluation.


Elizabeth Carll, PhD is president of the APA Trauma Psychology Division and chairs the APA Interdivisional Refugee Mental Health Resource Network. Dr. Carll serves on the executive committee and is a former chair of the United Nations NGO Committee on Mental Health, and has developed various disaster/crisis management programs and is in private practice.

Betsy Gard, PhD is an adjunct faculty member at the Emory University Department of Psychiatry. She is the manager for Disaster Mental Health for the Georgia Region of the American Red Cross and is mental health consultant for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an organization that responds to humanitarian crises.

William Salton, PhD is Director of the Max and Celia Parnes Family Psychological and Psychoeducational Services Clinic at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Yeshiva University. He co-directs, with Dr. Carl Auerbach, the Yeshiva Asylum Project, that trains graduate students to work with asylum seekers. He has a private practice of psychotherapy.


References:

• Cole, E. (2015). Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents. Baltic Journal of Psychology, 90-97.
• Garoff, F., Kangaslampi, S., & Peltonen, K. (2019). Development and Implementation of a group based mental health intervention for unaccompanied minors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 7-15.
• Karriker, J. H., Madden, L. T., & Katell, L. A. (2017). Team Composition, Distributed Leadership, and Performance: It's Good to Share. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 507-518.
• Mitra, R., & Hodes, M. (2019). Prevention of Psychological Distress and Promotion of Resilience Amongst Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Resettlement Countries. Child Care Health Dev., 198-215.
• NeMoyer, A., Rodriguez, T., & Alvarez, K. (2019). Psychological Practice with Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors: Clinical and Legal Considerations. Transitional Issues in Psychological Science, 4-16.
• Rothacker, A., & Hauer, G. (2014). Leadership in multinational management- A behavior-set to motivate multicultural teams. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 226-236.