Has anyone been following the discussions surrounding hurricane Isaías and the pronunciation of its name? not even discussions surrounding safety rather people REFUSING to call it anything else than “Isaiah”. it has been very disheartening all the racist connotations this has taken...

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🚨new publication🚨 This work is truly representative of the research process. @lourdesconcepcion.bsky.social had an idea based on a personal experience during the Fall 2022 semester. We presented multiple conference poster & paper sessions with the culmination being the publication this paper!

On a completely different note, I went to my first conference in probably two years and was reminded that there are professional spaces where I actually feel energized, intellectually engaged and like myself. Anyway, I need to get out of this setting ASAP :)

The whole thing is a dumpster fire. They wanted the language access. They wanted the patients to be seen. They wanted the money. They did not think about what I would need from them.

They are very eager to keep me because they need what I provide. But they are not actually listening when I tell them I cannot thrive in an environment that has no way to supervise, observe or support the work they specifically hired me to do.

What exactly did they think hiring a Spanish-speaking clinician to carry a Spanish-speaking caseload would involve? Because it seems like the plan started and ended with: finally, someone can see these families.

They also did not consider that I might need additional time to write my notes because I have to translate what happened in the session before documenting it in English. When I explained this, I was told they had “never thought of that.”

They have now told me multiple times that they cannot properly observe my work because they do not understand what is being said during my sessions. Of course they cannot. They placed me there knowing none of my supervisors speak the language I was hired to use.

They moved me to a location that does not have a single supervisor who speaks Spanish. Not one. But they moved me there specifically because that location was supposedly in “dire need” of someone who could provide services in Spanish.

Basically, they wanted someone who could clear the Spanish-speaking waitlist. They did not think about what it would mean to actually serve those families or what the person doing that work would need from them.

I cry because these families are dealing with situations that are painful, serious and happening right now. I am not going to sit there completely unmoved so that other clinicians can feel more comfortable with my professionalism.

And somehow, there is now “concern” about how much I have cried with my families. I am not crying because I am making their experiences about me. I am not unable to separate myself from their lives. I know what my role is. I cry because I am a person sitting with another person who is TERRIFIED.

They are also surprised by how willing families are to tell me their immigration status, open up about what is happening and cry during our sessions. They can apparently see that something different is happening in the room but cannot seem to figure out why.

Then I was told that they have never had to write a letter supporting a family or advocate for someone to remain in the country because that has never come up for them before…. maybe it did not come up because families were not telling you!!

The first thing I was told when I raised one of these situations was, “I thought the ICE situation was calm now.” Girl. Next.

Unsurprisingly, immigration has come up multiple times. I can handle many of these situations because I have been doing this work for the past year. Other situations require support or a signature from someone with a specific license… and that is where the mess starts.