SPOKANE, Wash. – A new mental health program in Spokane hopes to address the shortage of bilingual mental health professionals in the area.
Mujeres in Action (M.I.A.) recently started its first mental health program, offering culturally responsive therapy services to Latin/Hispanic survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault and sexual assault.
“We didn’t see that it was happening anywhere around us, right now. So we knew that it was needed, for Latin, a Spanish speaking community,” said MIA Executive Director Anna Trusty.
Domestic violence rates in Spokane are reported to be significantly higher than the statewide average. According to M.I.A., around 1 in 3 people in the Latin community are affected by domestic violence.
“There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of misconceptions. There’s a lot of education that needs to happen,” said M.I.A. executive director Anna Trusty. “I think this program will speak directly to our community.”
The program hopes to empower survivors by helping them heal and find their voice. It also plans to partner with local universities to train more trauma informed bilingual therapists in Spokane.
“There is a gap in our community that the bilingual population, and that’s a big, big population here in Spokane is underrepresented, or they don’t have enough access to this services,” said Monica Rey Serantes, a mental health counselor at M.I.A.
Rey Serantes said it’s crucial to respond to domestic violence survivors when they are most in need.
“What happens when you immigrate to another country is that you don’t have access, or you don’t know how to get into many services,” Rey Serantes said. This program hopes to help people get access to those services while providing mental health support along the way.
If you are a survivor of domestic violence or sexual assault and would like to get into the program you can contact M.I.A. at 509-869-0976 or info@miaspokane.org.
For more information on this program, click here.
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