Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Boston University’s (BU) Mexico-US Border Studies Program provides students with the unique opportunity to collaborate with and learn from community organizations supporting immigrants in transitional housing camps. BUSSW Prof. Luz M. Lopez, CISWH’s Global Health Core director, lends her expertise by ensuring students are properly informed and educated in trauma-informed care prior to connecting with migrants at the border. Knowing how to engage with migrants who have experienced trauma and violence is crucial for relationship-building and providing ongoing support.
Excerpt from, “Innovations in Social Work: Social Work Brings Trauma-Informed Care to Border Studies Program” by Lindsey Getz:
“We emphasize being open when meeting migrants, how to ask questions, and how to engage in conversation without triggering them during that interaction,” López explains. “We also talked about how to connect migrants to other services. One gap that we hope our BU School of Social Work CISWH can fill is the need for more consultancy and resources in trauma and mental health.”