Therapy Program for Immigrant and Refugee Families
The new Therapy Program for Immigrant and Refugee Families came about as a result of our efforts to become more involved with our surrounding community. We recognized that there was a large part of this community that we had not been able to serve due to various obstacles, including language, cultural differences, and the stigma many members of refugee and immigrant communities associate with mental health issues.
We examined ways to remove some of these obstacles, and offer services in a manner that would make family therapy more accessible to, and accepted by, refugee and immigrant populations. Many of these populations came from cultures practicing different ways of healing, and did not use ‘therapy’ the way it was used in the Western context. As a result, we have simplified our intake procedure, offered to meet clients at their homes, community centres, other provider’s offices, and places where they felt safe; we have become more flexible with the length of session, secured funding to provide therapy free of charge, and engaged in a truly collaborative approach.
Reaching out and connecting with other service providers working with refugees and immigrants has also been a significant part of this program, as we recognized the complex nature of the immigrant and refugee experience and the need for a network of resources. As a result, Aurora has become a member of several interagency associations and coalitions focused on helping refugee and immigrant populations, some of which are facilitated by the Provincial Government. We are also involved in providing education, workshops and training about war related trauma and other therapy related issues to fellow agencies and professionals.
The program is evolving, taking shape, and growing solid roots. Our new clients come from many different countries. Some have arrived to Canada as recently as a few months ago, and others have been here for many years. At this point, we are largely dealing with issues of war related trauma, parenting, and relationship conflict. Therapy is provided in many languages either through direct service in clients’ mother tongue, or through working with interpreters. Some of the languages include Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Lingala, Farsi, Dari, Dinka, Arabic, Amharic, Tigrigna, Korean, Punjabi, Spanish, Russian, French, Serbo-Croatian, and so on. In spite of all this, there is still much to learn about various cultures, their strengths, wisdom, and ways of healing. There is also a lot of learning in working with interpreters, providing therapy in different languages, and so on. We are very excited about these new opportunities for learning and the potential of being involved in such a significant way, using what we do well to help our community heal.
Aurora is very grateful to Manitoba Labour and Immigration, as with their generous support we are able to provide such diverse services, meeting the needs of various client populations, free of charge.
For more information contact our Community Family Therapists @ 509-1405, healing@uwinnipeg.ca.
AURORA FAMILY THERAPY CENTRE
The University of Winnipeg,
Sparling Hall, 2nd Floor,
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
(204) 786-9251
"I am so grateful that I can receive this service in my own language. You cannot imagine the relief that I experience, not having to search for the right word to express how I really feel." (translated to English)