Assessing Refugee Trauma: Transformative Clinical Training in a Community Service-Learning Model

Area of Science:

• Clinical Psychology
• Social Work Education
• Marriage and Family Therapy

Background:

• Marriage and family therapy (MFT) training often lacks integration of advocacy skills.
• There's a need to bridge the gap between ethical practice and real-world application in MFT.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the impact of a trauma-informed service-learning partnership on MFT graduate students' professional development.
• To assess the integration of advocacy skills and cultural humility through forensic evaluations for asylum seekers.

Main Methods:

• A phenomenological case study design with mixed-methods follow-up was employed.
• Graduate MFT students participated in supervised forensic evaluations for asylum seekers.

Main Results:

• Students reported lasting empathy, systemic awareness, and trauma-informed competence.
• Participants felt confident applying clinical skills beyond traditional therapy settings.
• The experience was described as transformative, expanding professional roles to include advocacy.

Conclusions:

• Experiential, community-based learning can enhance MFT curricula by embedding advocacy.
• This model equips therapists to function as both clinicians and systemic advocates.
• Further academic support is needed for challenges in contextualizing mental health within sociopolitical frameworks.