Therapists Conducting Asylum Evaluations
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
What Is the Asylum a Valuation Process?
Blable Blas is a quinitian who works on asylum cases. She says the process starts with an interview, then five hours of writing and consulting with a lawyer. The only reason she writes her report is because it's related to a symptom, she says. "I say, there was a time in this person's life when all the symptoms were present"
An interview with Marc Sadoff, LCSW, about what therapists can do to support refugees seeking asylum in the United States. We talk about the qualifications therapists need to engage in the asylum evaluation process.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. We are human beings who can now present ourselves as whole people, with authenticity, purpose, and connection. Especially now, when therapists must develop a personal brand to market their practices.
To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
Interview with Marc Sadoff, LCSW
Marc Sadoff, LCSW was licensed in 1985 and worked with the Program for Torture Victims Los Angeles from 1997 to 2001. Marc and his colleagues did psychological and medical evaluations to corroborate claims of torture for asylum seekers. In 2000, they presented a half-day workshop for Immigration Asylum Officers on the topic of credibility. They were acknowledged as contributors to a book edited by the Physicians for Human Rights called "A Health Professional’s Guide to Medical And Psychological Evaluations Of Torture" published in 2001. Marc has submitted over 100 psychological evaluations for immigration cases, and has been accepted as an ‘expert in traumatic stress’, 60 of the 60 times that he’s testified in court. Marc’s goal in providing training on asylum is to expand the pool of clinicians who can begin doing pro bono and low fee psychological evaluations for those fleeing injustice and terror. You can learn more about Marc here: www.realhope.com
In this episode we talk about:
- Marc’s entry into treating torture and asylum victims
- The difference between asylum evaluations and treatment
- What the asylum process looks like from asylee perspective and the clinician perspective
- The years long process that is asylum seeking, leading to communities requiring sponsorship while waiting for the process to be completed
- The clinician’s experience in the asylum process
- What is required to complete evaluations for asylum, looking at the practical steps to completing the report
- Qualifications for therapists completing asylum evaluations
- The current state of immigration and how it has impacted Marc’s practice, his personal takes on it
- The plight of unaccompanied minors who cross the border
- How therapists can get involved, as a citizen, as a clinician, as an asylum evaluator
- How therapists and social workers need to be cautious about what they present related to interviews outside of asylum evaluations
Resources mentioned:
We’ve pulled together any resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links.
Marc’s 7 hour course - Webinar on Asylum Evaluations: RealHope.com/webinar-training/
Marc’s information:
www.RealHope.com/webinar-training/ For info regarding the September training.
Email: Marc@RealHope.com
Twitter: @MarcSadoff
IF YOU’D LIKE THE EXTENSIVE RESOURCES THAT MARC PROVIDED US, PLEASE SEND US A QUICK EMAIL AND WE CAN FORWARD THE MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENT TO YOU: podcast@therapyreimagined.com
Professional Organization Statements:
Child’s World America Petition
Diane Feinstein’s Bill: Keep Families Together Act
Action Alert from Southern Poverty Law Center
Immigration Resources:
https://www.psychologicalevaluationsforimmigrationcourt.net/blog/
IF YOU’D LIKE THE EXTENSIVE RESOURCES THAT MARC PROVIDED US (INCLUDING THE ONE ABOVE), PLEASE SEND US A QUICK EMAIL AND WE CAN FORWARD THE MULTI-PAGE DOCUMENT TO YOU: podcast@therapyreimagined.com
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Credits:
Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/
Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/
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