clinical implications. We expect that by addressing these areas, play therapists can work with immigrant children and their families following a multicultural orientation framework.
Trauma and Immigration The immigration experience includes events that the child and family undergo before immigrating, during immigration, and post- immigration. A rich understanding of pre-immigration involves assessing the family’s life before immigrating and the reasons for immigrating. These reasons may vary due to voluntary immigration or forced relocation (Lorenzen, 2017). Whereas voluntary immigration implies free will, forced migration often results from political persecution, humanitarian crises, wars, and other urgent circumstances (Lorenzen, 2017). Individuals forced to leave their home country often endure traumatic experiences before the transition due to the need to escape unsafe situations (Siman-Tove et al., 2019). Furthermore, immigrant children and their families may also experience trauma during their transition to the U.S. and/or after their arrival.
Venta et al. (2020) discussed family separation as a source of trauma States. Reasons for family separation include caregivers leaving children in their home country until they can establish themselves in the U.S. (Venta et al., 2020) or children being separated from their parents when held in different immigration detention centers. These experiences can cause children interpersonal trauma and negative mental health outcomes (Venta et al., 2020). Additionally, Becker Herbst et al. (2018) cautioned about being aware of the emotional trauma experienced by children who immigrate alone, as they often describe being survivors of violence and other hardships traumatic relocation, we want to recognize that not all immigrants share this experience; many arrive through different means and do not encounter any traumatic events. However, the mental health of immigrants may still be affected by the planning and resources needed to relocate (Yakushko et al., 2008).
Once children are in the United States, they encounter a new set of fear and anxiety when their families face legal vulnerability. To protect their families, children often display hypercompliance when children and parents may be restricted from accessing many social programs due to the parent’s legal status, resulting in higher poverty levels for these families (Alegría et al., 2023). Additionally, young children are often aware of anti-immigration sentiment and experience increased aggression, separation anxiety, and withdrawal behaviors (Cervantes et al., 2018).
Parenting and Immigration According to Lansford (2022), most parents from underserved
CLINICAL EDITOR’S COMMENTS: A multicultural orientation framework guides play
therapists in addressing trauma and intergenerational needs among immigrant populations.
communities, including immigrants, have been exposed to parental values that differ from the Westernized practices upheld in the United States. In addition, differences in exposure to determinants of health also play a role in parental behaviors such as cognitive stimulation, daily routines, and engagement in parent-child warmth interactions (Lansford, 2022). Play therapists must understand these differences in parental behaviors and values to be able to provide empathic understanding and culturally sensitive services to immigrant families. Similarly, play therapists must be aware of intergenerational cultural differences between parents and children.
The intergenerational cultural gap is intrinsically linked to the acculturation process and refers to the differences in the level of integration to the host culture that exists between parents and their children (Telzer et al., 2016). Research shows that parents usually acculturate less and tend to maintain their cultural values while their children tend to acculturate faster and adopt the values of the host society (Telzer et al., 2016). According to Telzer et al. (2016), research on intergenerational cultural gaps yields mixed results, indicating that, at times, it can cause stress on the parent-child relationship. Other factors that strain immigrant families and the parent-child relationship include parents’ lack of knowledge on how to navigate systems such as the school environment, language barriers, fear of deportation and family separation, economic insecurity, discrimination, and challenges to residency, among others. Due to the exposure that immigrant families may have to all these factors, play therapists need to carefully assess if these are present and the extent of their effect on the children and families they are serving.
Play Therapy Applications A pillar of a multicultural orientation framework is cultural comfort, discussing cultural identities and experiences with their clients (Owaga et al., 2022). Thus, play therapists must be mindful of their own implicit and explicit biases and recognize their proximity to power, centered assumptions do I have about immigrant communities? What are the sources of these assumptions? In what ways have these assumptions informed my way of engaging in relationships with my immigrant clients (adapted from Savage et al., 2021)?” Once we recognize our discomfort and areas of growth, we must take action to address these growing edges. Immigrant children and families are
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