This photo from 2016 shows then President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, as well as leaders in the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women at a UN Women panel in Liberia.
Advocacy Plan
Hosting a panel on the personal histories and current struggles of Liberians in the area would be a great advocacy activity. The goal would be to promote understanding among those not in this community. This is a great way for panelists to be experts about their own lives and share their experiences with others. Hopefully attendees realize how many Liberians have worked hard to get where they are and still face daily discrimination that can impact their health and well-being (Goodman et al. 2017). A community center would be a good place to hold this so that it is accessible to everyone.
Servant leadership for Liberians in Central Ohio
Facilitating group work would be a helpful activity for the Liberian population in Central Ohio. This activity reflects servant leadership in that the needs of others creates space for them to share their experiences and connect with others. The goals are to deal with mental health stresses, reduce isolation, build community, and foster learning from interpersonal relationships. This work has already been shown to be helpful for Liberian men (Akinsulure-Smith 2012), women (Clarke & Borders 2014) and children (Schweitzer et al. 2014). Groups could be held at religious institutions, where many Liberians already have a strong sense of community. Important topics of discussion would likely include challenges faced on personal journeys and current struggles with discrimination in America, especially surrounding careers and healthcare (Goodman et al. 2017). Additionally, helping Liberian laypeople get trained to lead group discussions would help facilitate feelings of ownership for the group(s) and allow the activity to continue ongoingly.
Copyright © 2013. Liberians In Columbus Inc.
Strengths-Based Needs of Liberians in Central Ohio
This image represents how the Liberian community in Central Ohio continues to overcome challenges. A significant struggle for this group of people is isolation. Many have come to the United States within the last 30 years, since the First Liberian Civil War. Some came with their families, but others could only come alone. Being separated from your home can be extremely difficult, but by coming together and supporting one another, this community has persevered. This picture shows a group of Liberian people together in community at church. Religion can be a very strong and helpful community, especially in reducing feelings of isolation. Therapy, especially in groups, has also been shown to help Liberian men (Akinsulure-Smith 2012), women (Clarke & Borders 2014) and children (Schweitzer et al. 2014) deal with mental health stresses. Groups are cost effective, help normalize traumatic events, reduce isolation, and build community.
Systemic Challenges Faced by Liberians in Central Ohio
This image represents the struggles of many Liberians living in Central Ohio. Like the similar puzzle pieces, Liberians and Americans share a lot in common. The country of Liberia was founded as a colony for free Blacks from America. The Americo-Liberians led the country from 1847 when they declared independence to 1980. It was the first Republic in Africa and one of two countries started by ex-slaves. The United States and Liberia have shared close political, economic and military ties for longer than any other Sub-Saharan African nation. Despite the similarities and connections, Liberians in America still face prejudice and discrimination (Hadley & Patil 2009). In the puzzle picture, the small piece represents the Liberians in Central Ohio. The puzzle piece is the right shape, just like how it looks like the Liberians should fit in perfectly in Central Ohio. Columbus even has laws to protect immigrants and those seeking asylum, so it should be welcoming to any refugees. Unfortunately, it can still be challenging for the Liberians to receive respect from others living here. Daily discrimination not only makes Liberian immigrant feel unwelcome, but also leads to stress-related health issues (Hadley & Patil 2009). Mental health challenges, as well as coping mechanisms Liberian immigrant develop can make trying to fit in even more challenging (Clarke & Borders 2014). Struggles to gain employment and poor treatment in systems of care also face Liberian refugees in America (Goodman et al. 2017). Rather than the rest of the puzzle changing to accommodate the smaller piece, Liberians in Central Ohio are forced to change themselves to fit into our culture and society if they want to be successful.
References: See references below.
Annotated Bibliography
Akinsulure-Smith, A. M. (2012). Using group work to rebuild family and community ties among displaced African men. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 37(2),95–112.
This article described the process of forming a group treatment model for African male forced migrants in a large urban hospital. The literature reviewed focused on the mental health challenges for refugees. The goal was to provide literature on therapeutic interventions for male African refugees, asylees, and asylum seekers who have had traumatic experiences and continue to struggle with post-migration stressors. Integration of western techniques with African cultural norms was emphasized. Group therapy was used because it is cost effective (developed at a public hospital), helps normalize traumatic events, reduces isolation, builds community, fosters learning from interpersonal relationships, and teaches coping mechanisms, all of which are especially useful for the male refugee population. More research needs to be done on the effects of group therapy, especially on this population.
Clarke, L. K., & Borders, L. D. (2014). “You got to apply seriousness”: A phenomenological inquiry of Liberian refugees’ coping. Journal of Counseling & Development, 92(3),294–303.
This study focused on the how Liberian women refugees cope with resettlement in the United States, a previously unresearched population. Introduction literature reviewed the mental health challenges facing refugees (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder) and coping, often involving ethnic and religious communities. This section was lacking in cited evidence-based coping strategies. The authors interviewed 10 women who arrived in the US between 2004 and 2005 when the UN refugee program was in effect. Thev found through these interviews that Liberian women presented themselves in different ways, roles such as “victim”, “warrior,” and “girlfriend” depending on their situation in order to survive. This article reminds counselors that clients may present themselves in certain ways as coping mechanisms, and that creative solutions may be necessary to provide therapy in culturally appropriate ways. This study was good in that the authors first sought to understand their population by letting them speak about their experiences. Larger sample size and interview subjects at different points in their journey (e.g. recently immigrated) would be good ways to expand on this research.
di Tomasso, L. (2010). Approaches to counselling resettled refugee and asylum seeker survivors of organized violence. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 1(3/4),244-264.
This literature review outlined the current debate about refugee mental health and the divergent approaches to helping survivors of organized violence in the counseling fields. The author argued that diagnosing refugees who undergo trauma with PTSD is not therapeutically effective. Instead, a definition of trauma should be an attack on one’s capacity to be resilient. Alternative forms of counseling such as strengths-based and narrative therapy were presented as effective as trauma-based approaches. Recognition of the value of multiculturalism was also brought up as it allows for diversity and the preservation of unique cultural knowledge, especially regarding healing practices. This review covered many topics, but it did not go in-depth as much as I would have liked. The structure was also somewhat difficult to follow, which meant conclusions and implications were not clear. Perhaps focusing on a more specific population would have narrowed the research and linked references together better.
Goodman, R. D., Vesely, C. K., Letiecq, B., & Cleaveland, C. L. (2017). Trauma and resilience among refugee and undocumented immigrant women. Journal of Counseling & Development, 95(3),309-321.
This study sought to explore immigrant women’s experiences of trauma and how they cope with these experiences. Literature reviewed explored trauma and stress in the context of the ecosystem. Coping mechanisms researched focused on resilience. The body of research regarding coping is still relatively new, so this section was accordingly smaller than that of trauma. The authors interviewed 19 immigrant women, of whom 10 were undocumented immigrants and nine were refugees. Themes of trauma, stressors, and ways of coping were drawn from interview content. Both refugee and undocumented immigrant women experienced chronic stress due to systemic factors such as inability to gain employment and poor treatment in systems of care. The authors also found that the nature of resilience processes for these women was very layered, involving many sources of strength including family, social, and individual support. Counselors can use understanding of structural and systemic factors such as immigration policies and government resources when working with clients to include approaches that focus on resiliency building, especially through community-based efforts.
Hadley, C., & Patil, C. (2009). Perceived discrimination among three groups of refugees resettled in the USA: Associations with language, time in the USA, and continent of origin. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 11(6),505.
This quantitative study assessed prevalence and predictors of discrimination among refugees resettled in the United States. Literature reviewed explored discrimination in the USA and how the experiences of refugees may differ due to historical patterns which may reduce or intensify their challenges. Participants were recruited from a resettlement agency and fell in three ethnic groups, East African (n = 92), West African (n = 74), and Eastern European (n = 112). Perceived discrimination was measured based on self-reported surveys using frequency as a key metric and correlated with variables such as time in the USA, language competence, gender, participation in federal aid programs etc. The authors found that refugees from African countries were more likely than Eastern European individuals to experience discrimination. This study is important because it provided clear statistical evidence of racism in the USA, something that counselors working with refugee populations must be sensitive to. Also important is that African refugees may experience lower levels of health and wellbeing (including increased stress) as compared to other immigrants because of the interaction between skin color and existing cultural norms in the receiving country, such as slavery, civil rights abuses, and continued discrimination in the USA.
Schweitzer, R. D., Vromans, L., Ranke, G., & Griffin, J. (2014). Narratives of healing: A case study of a young Liberian refugee settled in Australia. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(1),98-106.
This case study investigated the experience of an adolescent from a Liberian background who participated in a narrative-based expressive arts intervention designed specifically for young people from refugee backgrounds. The literature reviewed explores interventions for children from refugee backgrounds and shows that they are mostly individualized, with a few group options. The next section explored narrative therapy and its key techniques that could be used with refugee populations. The Tree of Life program was administered to a group of eight Liberian adolescents currently living in Australia and the experience of one female participant is used for the case study. Reactions/reflections of the therapist to the program were also included. The study highlighted the potential therapeutic benefits of the process of exploring meaning and integrating preferred self-narratives in a group format, which is especially important for refugees in order to integrate their past experiences and instill a sense of hope for the future. Future studies should be videotaped rather than relying on audio recordings and therapist notes to reduce subjectivity.