Working with Refugees and Immigrants:  
Issues for Mental Health Professionals

April 26, 2008
1:00 -3:00 pm
University of Louisville College of Education

KYATA members receive 2 free CECs
[This program has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors]
Presentation by Jennifer Beasley, MA, ATR

Participants will learn about the changing demographics of Louisville, Kentucky, as well as the
changes that are occurring in immigration today.  Today’s immigrants are no longer moving to large
cities on the American coasts like New York or Los Angeles, but instead flying in to smaller cities in
every state.  This change in immigration means that mental health professionals need to learn about
the different cultural groups that are living in our area.  Louisville’s current population features a
large number of both immigrants and refugees, and this presentation will explain the different
adjustment challenges that immigrants and refugees face when coming to Louisville.  Louisville’s
refugee resettlement agencies newest populations include Meskhetian Turks from Uzbekistan, Karen
from Burma, Somali Bantu, Burundians, Congolese, Sudanese, and Cubans.  Immigrants are largely
from Mexico and Central American countries, and information about these cultures will also be
discussed.  Case studies using therapeutic art interventions will be presented as a way for mental
health professionals to address clients’ diverse needs.

At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to:
•        Define the terms immigrant, refugee
•        Describe stages of adjustment to life in the US
•        Explain common difficulties children of refugees, immigrants face as they adapt to life in the US
•        Describe at least one strategy for use of art therapy techniques with refugee, immigrant
children and adolescents



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