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Information and Vocabulary to Treat New Waves of Immigrants from Latin America

5/16/2016

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by Cynthia M. Braden, MFT and Alfonso DiLuca
Psychotherapists, Counselors and Social Workers will be increasingly called upon to respond to the mental health needs of new waves of immigrants fleeing economic and political turmoil in countries/territories such as Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

Take a quick look at the landscape of problems that are provoking Latin American citizens to flee their homelands and hope for better luck in other countries. Factors such as deepening economic crisis, threat of wars between neighboring countries, terrorism and narco-trafficking, fear of immigrants from other countries, food and water shortages, power outages, rampant unemployment and devaluation of currency are some of the reasons new immigrants from Latin America may appear in social service and therapy offices in English speaking countries.

Once prosperous Venezuela for example, now has its citizens standing in line for days to purchase simple necessities. In psychotherapy it is helpful for therapists to understand and appreciate the context that these clients may bring to our offices. Many are affected by a great level of stress, grief, fear and trauma and may lack the courage to talk about the reasons for their immigration.

The process of immigration itself only compounds the trauma as citizens have fled their countries and moved against their will to a foreign society where they don't speak the language or understand the norms. After working with hundreds of recent immigrants We have produced a video to help you talk to clients about sensitive immigration experiences.

Here are additional words and phrases that therapists should know:
  • food shortages
  • ​food shortage
  • lack of food
  • lack of water
  • lack of electricity
  • food lines
  • food lines
  • confiscation of private property
  • increase in crime
  • unemployment
  • ​embezzlement of funds
  • child labor
  • kidnapping
  • ransom
  • threat of communism
  • terrorism
  • escasez de alimento
  • escasez de comida
  • ​falta de comida
  • falta de agua
  • falta de electricidad​
  • filas para comida
  • colas para alimentos
  • apoderación de bienes privadas
  • incremento del crimen 
  • desempleo
  • ​malversación de fondos
  • ​trabajo infantil
  • ​secuestro
  • rescate
  • amenaza de comunismo
  • terrorismo
Even though some of these problems are common in Latin America, many communities and countries enjoy peaceful lifestyles, and stable governments. So be careful to avoid over-generalizing. 
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Geographic Focus: Hispaniola

11/9/2015

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by Alfonso M. López

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The island of Hispaniola is located south and east of Miami, Florida, USA.

​The island contains two countries: the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Dominicans speak Spanish while Haitians speak Creole/French.


Hispaniola is the site of the first European settlement in the Americas founded by Christopher Columbus on his voyages in 1492 and 1493. 
​One of our dear students, a psychologist specializing in families and living in New York City, recently asked us about differences in working with the great population of Dominicans in New York as opposed to working with Latinos from other countries. This came quite perfectly for us, as I lived the first 22 years of my life in the Dominican Republic, and I have also spent several years living in both New York City and Miami where large populations of Caribeños reside.

As we know, different countries have different idioms and ways to express themselves. For example, people from Mexico may use one word to define a feeling or emotion whereas a person from another Latin American country may use a  different word to express a similar feeling. In this post we are going to compare a couple of relevant Dominican and Mexican expressions.
​

Words to Express Shame, Sorrow, Embarrassment

Mexican - Pena

Mexicans may use the word pena to express shame. 
  • ​Me da pena lo que me pasó. (I am ashamed about what happened to me.)
  • Me da pena hablar en público. (I am embarrassed to speak in public.)

Dominican - Pena

Dominicans would use the word pena to describe sorrow.
  • ​Me da pena tu situación. ​(I am sorry about your situation.)

Dominican - Verguenza

Dominicans would use verguenza to express shame, embarrassment: 
  • Me da verguenza lo que me pasó.
  • Me da verguenza hablar in público.

Phrases to Convey Agreement

Mexican - Agreement

To convey agreement, Mexicans may say, ¡Ándale! which is actually a command form of 'you go'.

Dominican - Agreement

To say Okay to something, Dominicans will often use Ta'bien. (Está bien.) 
One thing we did right away to help our student was to say that a main characteristic of Dominicans in general is a friendly attitude and a positive outlook on life, even when times are tough, which they often are. Dominicans enjoy sports, parties, mingling with people, sharing food and everything that has to do with having fun in life, even in the poorest circumstances.

Our student has worked hard with watching the videos and taking lessons, and she is happy to tell me that she now is able to communicate almost entirely in Spanish during the sessions!  Even though Dominicans tend to speak quite fast she has learned how to slow them down with particular phrases. She is doing great with her Dominican clients in NYC and appreciates sharing about cultural differences between Latino groups. 
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DISCLAIMER: These modules reflect tried and true methods and best practices in many cases, but their effectiveness depends very much on a variety of circumstances outside the control of Spanish for Mental Health Professionals including without limitation the context of use, and the level of training of the user.  No particular result or success can be guaranteed, and Spanish for Mental Health Professionals disclaims all liability relating to any use of the modules by any user.  Materials are suitable for licensed mental health professionals; students, para professionals and pre-licensed therapists under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional only.