Alyssa Kaying Vang, PsyD, LP
Visible Child Initiative/Family Housing Fund
October 20, 2015
 Unsupervised play all summer long
 Post 9/11
Culture
Trauma
Parenting
 Eating at the table during meal times vs. following child around to get fed
 Praising a child vs. not praising a child
 Responding to a child’s need vs. letting the child cry themselves to self soothe
 Corporal punishment
 Being judged of one’s cultural parenting practice by another group
 Trauma history?
 Symptomatic vs. Asymptomatic
 Current trauma or repeated trauma
 Is being homeless a traumatic event?
 What are some things about families you serve that can be frustrating?
 My example: Hmong parents and their follow through with kids (school, therapy)
It is where the agency/provider support and preserve
families through a respectful and strength-based approach
that views the family as central to the client’s well being,
and acknowledge the role culture plays in the patientprovider relationship as well as recognize that families
may have trauma histories that impact the client’s (and
their families) lives.
 Minorities, communities of color, and new immigrant populations still face disparities in
many areas, including:
 Higher rates of poverty
 Domestic violence
 Health care challenges
 Unemployment
 Educational difficulties (higher school dropout rates)
 Disproportional rates in
 Non-voluntary social services
 Criminal justice involvement
 These communities often
 distrust or fear how they will be treated in formal social services
 Feel misunderstood or feel a power imbalance
 Seek services from their own community, which may not have all the resources
* A report by Oliver J. Williams, PhD
 Literature cites benefits of family-centered practices:
 Positive impact on mental health of families with children who suffer from special needs
 Increased ability to cope with stress
 Family reporting increased satisfaction with care
 Improved quality of care
Principles of family-centered care:
 Identifies the family as an important and constant element in client’s life
 Focuses and builds on family strength
 Involves and engages with the family
 Respects and acknowledges cultural diversity and family traditions
 Individualistic vs. collectivistic, cultural variance (e.g., Hmong children and parenting approach)
 Maintains collaborative partnerships
 A move toward “culturally-responsive practice”
 Develop an awareness of, respect for, and sensitivity to different cultures
 Always ask yourself, “why do people do what they do?”
 “What happened to you?”
 Cultural framework
 Impossible to have operating knowledge of every aspect of each person’s cultural
background.
 Heterogeneity (acculturation, family variances, individual variances)
 Although members of a group share similar traits, it is important to acknowledge the
person as an individual
 Increasing cultural awareness
 Understand one’s own cultural lens and any biases
 Have an open mind
 Acquiring knowledge
 Learn about client’s culture so as to avoid making assumptions
 How does culture affect beliefs about health, behaviors, etc?
 Understand the community in which client is from
 Build relationship and trust with community
 Skill development
 Learn cross-cultural communication skills
 Stage 1: Culturally resistant
 Stage 2: Color Blindness
 Stage 3: Culturally responsive
(Grounded in and directed by a thorough understanding of the neurological,
biological, psychological, and social effects of trauma.)
A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed:
 Realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for
recovery;
 Recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others
involved with the system;
 Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and
practices; and
 Seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.
 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
 Build upon the following principles:
 Safety
 Trustworthiness and Transparency
 Peer support
 Collaboration and mutuality
 Empowerment, voice and choice
 Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues
* Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
 Emphasizes family-centered work
 Relationship of child to parent, parents to their parents, etc.
 Recognizes trauma history
 Culture
A 10-year-old girl who is extremely withdrawn at school has been referred to you for
concerns regarding possible depression, maybe selective mutism. She does not talk
much and seems very socially isolated, even though she understands English well
enough. She and her family arrived from Syria about a year ago.
 You just received a referral to work with an African-American family consisting of a
mother and her four children (ages 3, 9, 11, 14). They are trying to get supportive
housing because the mother lost her job and was unable to pay their rent. Being
homeless is not new to the family, as this is their 4th time in the last 7 years.
Reasons for being homeless is different each time. The first was due to a
domestically violent relationship. The other times were due to family conflict.
 Hmong ELL vs. Special Education services
 “Strong schools, Strong communities” in St. Paul Public Schools, disciplinarian
actions
 Change needs to happen at the personal level and at the organizational level.
 References:
 Williams, Oliver J., PhD (2007), Concepts in Creating Culturally Responsive Services for
Supervised Visitation Centers, Institute on domestic violence in the African American
Community and the Office on Violence against Women.
 A guide for advancing family-centered and culturally and linguistically competent care
(2007), National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child
& Human Development.
 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
 www.dimensionsofculture.com
Alyssa Kaying Vang, PsyD, LP
AKV Psychological and Consulting Services, LLC
(651) 283-3794
www.dralyssakvang.com