Latinx Community Analysis

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The population that I am drawn to, but also find to be very challenging, is working with the Latinx population. There is an array of issues that intersect such as immigration, incarceration, and a general lack in supportive resources for this population. Being born and raised in California, the Latinx community is huge there and as a Hispanic woman, I have always felt really connected to the culture and the people. Previously working with pregnant and parenting teens for many years to interning in two clinical outpatient settings, I have worked a lot with Latinx clients. Though it is a wonderful population to work with, there are many barriers that make it difficult to work with them. Most clients that I have served, have been undocumented …show more content…

With an immigrant client, building trust is layered with hypervigilance and questioning whether this services provider will help them or hinder them. As a social worker, it is extremely important to build rapport first and then the trust can follow afterwards. Instead of reinforcing the positionality between the therapist and the client, it is important to be a human being first. This year I was interning at Sanctuary for Families working with undocumented adult women who are survivors of gender-based violence. Working with this vulnerable yet resilient population served as a great experience because it reminded me how important it is to build a connection first instead of starting off with interventions. Building a connection and a relationship should be the first intervention used. Comas-Diaz (2010) describes how imperative and impactful it is to listen and inquire about client’s narratives, but to also facilitate a culturally inviting environment. She describes the environment she uses by developing a flexible style, a culturally centered approach, and a welcoming ambience. This article validated the importance of being warm with clients and giving them space and time to build the connection they want with their therapist. The best thing a therapist can help their client achieve is finding their voice and space within the professional …show more content…

Self-care helps provide boundaries as a service provider for myself and my wellbeing. Between the intense sessions with clients to the heavy documentation and expectations at my agency, it helped provide stability between my professional self and my personal self. Along with processing my feelings and work with clients during supervision, I began to incorporate more meditation and breathing techniques to prevent from feeling too overwhelmed. As a student, we learn that feeling overwhelmed can lead to burn out, and this is something that I will continue to practice as a preventative technique. Knight (2013) describes how the objective of self-care is not to cure the secondary trauma, but rather learn to manage it and implement it consistently to grow professionally and personally. This article incorporated self-care and secondary trauma by emphasizing how both things can affect each other directly. Self-care has really helped my wellbeing, especially after a very heavy session with the client or when I begin to feel personally triggered by something during

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