Therapist Doubles as Asylum Advocate
Sahil Sharma, a third-year student in the 91精品鈥檚 , is spending his training year developing not only his clinical and assessment skills, but also learning to compose asylum evaluations for many of his clients. Placed at , a relatively new Bay Area nonprofit founded by a graduate of the Counseling Psychology program, Sahil works with people who were forced to flee their countries of origin.
鈥淥ur clients include refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of human trafficking and other atrocities,鈥� he explained. 鈥淎t my placement, we provide free mental health services and work closely with local legal agencies to provide asylum evaluations for court to help our clients remain legally in the country.鈥�
As his clients鈥� therapist and advocate, Sahil鈥檚 role is distinct from that of an expert witness but still potentially extremely influential.
鈥淚t is understood by the courts that I am also my clients鈥� therapist, so it is not my job to assess whether someone is telling the truth about what happened to them,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚nstead, my role is to evaluate whether someone truly has the symptoms they say they have and show how the traumas they experienced in their countries have affected them.鈥�
One of the requirements for gaining asylum is that a person must apply within one year of arriving in the country, so part of the evaluation is to help justify why a client was not able to file within that time frame. In his reports, Sahil must use clinical language to describe the symptoms his clients were exhibiting that inhibited them from following the law.
鈥淐ommon symptoms I see include: sleep disturbance, anxiety and depression, flashbacks, general fearfulness, being easily startled, social isolation, mistrust and all other symptoms of post-traumatic stress,鈥� he said.
Sahil鈥檚 clients hail from virtually all over the world. 鈥淲e have a lot of clients from Central America鈥攆leeing wars, gangs and other forms of persecution鈥攁s well as Asia, many African countries and the Middle East,鈥� he said.
Sahil applied to this site in particular because of his passion for working with people who have undergone serious trauma.
鈥淚 knew I wanted to work with survivors of trauma in a psychodynamic framework, but when I applied to this practicum site, asylum evaluations was not even listed as a formal part of the work,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ad I known, I would have been even more enthusiastic about applying here.鈥�
A major obstacle to the therapeutic process in this setting is that many of Sahil鈥檚 clients don鈥檛 even know what therapy is or why they are there.
鈥淢ost of our clients were referred by their lawyers or doctors who saw signs of PTSD, but it is our job to show them that we are trustworthy and here to help,鈥� he said. 鈥淯niversally, people understand words like 鈥榮tress,鈥� 鈥榳orry, and 鈥榥erves,鈥� so I often start by describing the symptoms people who have faced trauma often experience. When I go through the assessments, people often feel relieved hearing the questions because they know they are going through something but may not realize why or that these are normal reactions from people who have endured what they have.鈥�
Something else Sahil has noticed is that clients often come in to talk about their legal cases, and through that process realize that they are feeling better just from talking about what happened to them to someone willing to listen empathically. 鈥淭hat will often keep them coming back for therapy, even when the legal case is over,鈥� he said.
While Sahil finds the work extremely fulfilling, he said hearing his clients鈥� stories can also weigh on him and his colleagues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 mind boggling hearing about the experiences some of my clients have had, but it speaks to their resilience,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd when you think about it, the people we see are only a small fraction of the people in the world going through this. It鈥檚 crazy to think that there are still so many people in the world going through the things they tell me about鈥攎any of who will never escape their countries.鈥�
Although it is only his third year as a trainee, Sahil believes his work at Partnerships for Trauma Recovery will influence his career as a psychologist long-term.
鈥淎n immigrant myself, I was compelled by psychological work that includes helping people through their acculturation processes and being with people in their experiences of restarting somewhere new. It really brings to light the universality of human experience,鈥� Sahil said. 鈥淭his year, I am really enjoying the dual impact I can have as both a therapist and an advocate, and I can see myself doing this kind of work throughout my career.鈥�
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