Assessments for Refugees and Foreign Nationals
I provide psycho-social assessments for refugee claimants and foreign nationals, including reports for H&C, PRRA, removal deferrals, and sponsorship submissions. The assessment includes a a one-time, in-depth clinical interview and comprehensive report. I accept Legal Aid cases as well.
Background
Throughout my training and practice, I have gained a great deal of experience and empathy for people who have faced psychological and emotional trauma. I have had much success helping refugee claimants and foreign nationals tell their stories, as well as outlining the stress-related symptoms they undergo. My clinical impression is based on my experience in conducting comprehensive psycho-social and emotional evaluations, and my training to recognize symptoms of trauma, anxiety, depression, torture, post traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorders, and other symptomatic criteria.
Flexible Schedule
I am well acquainted with the tight time constraints that refugee cases occasionally demand and my schedule allows for some flexibility to accommodate the needs of the law firm, as well as the client. If time allows, I will conduct assessment interviews at the Toronto detention centres for detained clients.
My Approach to Assessments
The assessments I conduct are based on a one-time, in-depth clinical and psychodynamic interview, typically extending for 60-90 minutes. Interpretation and report preparation require another 2-3 hours. Interviews cover a broad range of topics, including history, patterns of distress (i.e. symptoms), social and occupational functioning, intimate relationships, sexuality, coping behaviour, suicidality, and future orientation. The reality and validity of interview data are evaluated by a number of means, including internal consistency, nonverbal communication and its congruence with self-report, the symptoms reported, and congruence between reported symptoms and known patterns of distress. Each assessment is prepared after a careful and detailed investigation of mental, social, and occupational functioning and the context in which these occur. Each report is tailored to provide a comprehensive, differentiated, and personalized evaluation of the individual.
* Experience working with individuals in the LGBTQ community