This Doesn’t Apply To Me: Addressing Gaps in Clinical Work to Include Immigrant Populations

The United States is a nation of immigrants; built, in part, by immigrants. In 2022, records showed that that 46.1 million immigrants were living in the U.S and they comprised 13.8% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau (using its 2022 American Community Survey [ACS]). In recent years, a spotlight on mental health has begun the public conversation about stigma, shame, and barriers for receiving support. Immigrants face unique challenges as a result of the multiple stressors that emerge before, during, and after migration (Vásquez et al., 2020) further shaped by the impacts of colonialism and c...Read moreontinued forms of imperialism (Tomlinson, 2001). Therapists are tasked with challenging the contradictory and competing interpretation of their client’s histories, traditions, and values. This can sometimes lead to unintentionally perpetuating cultural imperialism packaged and disguised as social justice/advocacy. The term cultural competence is synonymous with social work (Simmons et al., 2008). Racial minority immigrant-origin individuals experience a host of complex mental health stressors and experience disparities in mental health care provision, which may be compounded by language and cultural barriers (Singer & Tummala-Narra, 2013). As we become an increasingly global society, the necessity for clinical practitioners who are culturally competent to engage with clients from diverse backgrounds can no longer be an afterthought.

Cultural competence has been proposed as a general approach for improving services, which requires changes at both institutional and clinical levels. However, gaps exist in research regarding the unique skills and considerations needed for working with clients that have a migration background. This leaves clinicians at a loss for evidence-based interventions and training needed to work with this population.

Clinical intervention research and implementation science are applied disciplines but differ in fundamental ways. Mental health therapists are in a unique position to be the source of social support for individuals experiencing health disparities, yet there is little research concerning these populations' experiences, how they affect health outcomes or how they access services. The ability to work effectively across racial, social, and cultural differences demands critical reflection on one's own position and the complex interactions between different aspects of identity (Garran & Werkmeister Rozas, 2013). The potential impact of bridging this gap between research and practice may include improved health outcomes for individuals served, improved clinical practice, improved integrated healthcare provision, gaps in the literature filled, positive social change, and contribution to a wider body of knowledge (Azzopardi & McNeil, 2016; Hollinsworth, 2013).

This presentation will explore a critical analysis of the current gaps between research and practice, analysis of power and inequality and the mechanisms that contribute to that inequality, and finally will propose new experiential strategies for clinical practitioners working with individuals with a migration background Less...

Learning Objectives

• Identify key points in the critical analysis of cultural competence and how it is practiced.
• Describe ways that the profession mental health therapists are complicit in cultural imperialism.
• Describe new strategies for reflective practice about cultural competence using the Intersectional Analysis Cluster.
• Outline potential strategies for practitioners and their work with individuals with a migration background.

Learning Levels

• Beginner

Friday, May 02, 2025

09:00 AM EDT - 12:00 PM EDT