Immigration psychology and evaluations
Immigration is a psychological event, not only a legal one.
Psychological evaluations prepared for immigration proceedings, and ongoing therapy for the strain of migration, separation, and starting over, in English or en español.
The work
A deliberately small part of the practice, offered carefully.
I am an immigrant. Much of what makes immigration hard never appears in the paperwork: the years of waiting, the family split across a border, the language that does not carry your whole self, the vigilance that does not switch off. That is ordinary clinical territory here, and it does not require a case or an attorney to be worth an hour.
I also conduct psychological evaluations used in immigration proceedings, working alongside your attorney. These are time-intensive, and I take on a limited number so that each is done properly. If it is not the right fit, or the timeline will not work, I will tell you early and help you look elsewhere.
See also: multicultural identity & race →When this is the work
When this is the work.
Evaluations for immigration cases.
Working with your attorney, I conduct psychological evaluations for matters such as extreme hardship waivers, asylum, VAWA self-petitions, and U and T visas. Each includes a clinical interview, testing where it is indicated, and a written report prepared for the court.
The weight of the process itself.
Cases take years. Waiting, uncertainty, and the knowledge that one decision can reshape a life exact a real toll, and needing help to carry it is not weakness. We can work on what the process is doing to you while it is still happening.
Separation, arrival, and starting over.
Distance from family, the standing you held at home and lost here, raising children between two cultures, and the plain exhaustion of building a life in a second language. All of it is worth its own hour, case or no case.
What to expect
What to expect.
Clear about scope, timeline, and cost from the first conversation, in English or en español.
A free 15-minute consult.
We talk about what you need, whether that is therapy, an evaluation, or both, and whether I am the right person for it.
Scope agreed in advance.
For an evaluation, we settle what is being assessed, what the report will address, when it will be delivered, and what it costs, before any work begins.
The work itself.
For therapy, a steady weekly hour. For an evaluation, a small number of longer sessions, followed by the written report sent to your attorney.
“You should not have to explain your whole life in a second language to be understood.”