Developing a whole-family services framework for trauma and torture-affected families and U.S. Survivors of Torture programs

Webinar Description

There is growing interest in integrating a whole family approach to SOT services as evidenced by recent requests for proposals by federal funders and a focus on this topic at SOT annual meetings and town halls.

In this webinar, we will discuss findings from year one of the Centering Families project. Centering Families is a two-year research project led by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago in collaboration with the National Capacity Project and with support from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. This project aims to develop a whole-family services framework to guide SOT programs in integrating family-based services to prevent and treat the mental health and family system needs of torture-affected families.

This webinar includes reviewing key insights following a scoping review of the literature on family needs and challenges and family-based interventions and services for torture-affected families. We will also share preliminary results from our survey of family-based services in U.S. SOT programs, implementation barriers and opportunities and capacity building priorities. Finally, we will review a draft of the whole family services framework and engage participants in interactive activities to elicit feedback on the model and on resources for implementation.

Learning Objectives

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Develop an understanding of the Centering Families research project and principal goals and objectives.
• Summarize key aspects of the literature on family needs, as well as priorities, challenges, approaches, services, interventions designed to support families, and key gaps for future research.
• Describe family-based services used in SOT programs in the U.S. and priority capacity-building needs.
• Examine the whole family services framework for U.S. SOT programs and recommend next steps for implementation.
  

Registration Information

October 17th, 2024 at 2:00-3:00 PM ET
(1:00 – 2:00 PM CT, 12:00 – 1:00 PM MT, 11:00 – 12:00 PM PT)

This webinar is only intended for staff of torture rehabilitation programs that are funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and/or are members of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs, as well as others who provide services or are otherwise invested in work with survivors of torture.

About the Presenter

Dr. Mary Bunn

Dr. Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Department of Psychiatry. She is also Core Faculty and Co-Director of the Global Mental Health Research and Training Program in the UIC Center for Global Health and runs a therapy clinic for refugees and asylum seekers at the UI Health.

Informed by more than twenty years of licensed clinical practice experience delivering therapy services and developing mental health programs domestically and globally, her research focuses on the development and testing of community-based mental health prevention and care interventions for survivors of war, torture and political violence across the migration continuum. This involves developing and testing a spectrum of services that improve mental health and strengthen families and social systems of care and connection. She is particularly interested in peer service models, family and group-based interventions and examining relational processes and factors in interventions.