Issues and Innovations in Mental Health Related to Human Trafficking

ALL SESSIONS ARE CLOSED CAPTIONED AND WILL BE RECORDED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO REGISTERED ATTENDEES WITHIN 24-48 BUSINESS HOURS AT THE OTLEARN PORTAL.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This on camera conversation between occupational therapists and psychologists will explore current issues related to human trafficking. The speakers, experts in their practice areas, will discuss timely issues and responsive innovations in prevention, health, mental health, social, and occupational justice for this population. Their observations and insights will resonate with and inspire practitioners in the field.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Identify and reflect upon current issues and innovations that impact people who have experienced human trafficking.

Describe and apply prevention and intervention strategies that improve the safety and quality of life of human trafficking survivors.

SPEAKERS

Paola Michelle Contreras, PsyD
Associate Professor, Counseling and Behavioral Health Department
William James College
Associate Professor, Counseling and Behavioral Health Department
Lead Researcher, Human Trafficking Community Research Hub

Paola M. Contreras is an Associate Professor at William James College, where she directs the Human Trafficking Community Research Hub, a psychoanalyst member of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society, where she co-directs the Community Psychoanalysis Concentration and a Participatory Action Researcher. Contreras completed her internship and post-graduate studies in Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance programs and holds psychology degrees from Guatemala and the US. For more than 20 years, Paola has provided psychoanalytic psychotherapy to individuals impacted by trauma and national and international consultation about developing services for populations affected by human trafficking. At the Human Trafficking Community Research Hub, she recently led a mixed-method study that responded to crucial questions about trauma-coerced attachment, sex trafficking, and the commercial sex trade. Before her work at William James College, Contreras was an evaluator and coordinator of a Department of Justice-funded program, Project Reach at the Trauma Center at JRI, where she evaluated T-Visa seekers and trained more than a thousand cross-disciplinary anti-trafficking providers, including law enforcement and attorneys. She has published widely on the issue of human trafficking with a particular focus on the issue of coercion and the complications of identifying adults in commercial sex who are victims of sex trafficking. She teaches graduate-level courses on trauma that include a perspective to reduce provider burnout and the provider’s ability to offer a liberatory therapeutic space to patients recovering from the effects of trauma. Paola received the 2014 American Psychological Association’s Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology Award. In 2019, the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute gave her the Arthur R. Kravitz Award for Community Action and Humanitarian Contributions.

Contreras completed her clinical psychology and postdoctoral training at Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She received her Psy.D at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology and a clinical psychology degree at Universidad Rafael Landívar in Guatemala City. She is a psychoanalyst member at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute.

Toni Thompson, DrOT, OTR/L, C/NDT
Senior Instructor, TherapyED, Evanston, IL
Selah Freedom Anti-Trafficking Agency, Tampa Bay, FL

Toni Thompson graduated from the University of Illinois in 1975 and completed her DrOT at Nova Southeastern University in 2017. Her work experience includes the Peace Corps/Ecuador; the National Cerebral Palsy Association in Caracas, Venezuela; adult mental health in Florida and Illinois; and some work in skilled nursing care. While at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Tampa for 22 years, she developed various programs, became certified in NDT-Pediatrics and Sensory Integration and Praxis Test, and fabricated more than 10,000 pediatric orthoses. She has presented at multiple state, national, and international occupational therapy, prosthetic-orthotic, and human trafficking conferences. She authored three chapters in cultural competence works, more than 40 professional articles in occupational therapy, physical therapy, travel, and orthotic-prosthetic publications, and the first human trafficking CEU directed to occupational therapy practitioners (American Occupational Therapy Association). Along with two practitioners, they established the Facebook group Occupational Therapy Human Trafficking Network that serves as a dynamic base for occupational therapy involvement in anti-trafficking with a multi-disciplinary approach. Currently, she mentors doctoral students on trafficking and cultural humility capstones, has been an instructor and content creator for TherapyEd exam preparation services for 26 years, and provides caregiver services for family members with unique medical challenges.

Jami Flick, PhD, MS, OTR/L
Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy
Director of Clinical Education
School of Occupational Therapy
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences

Flick graduated with a MS in Occupational Therapy from the University of South Alabama in 2007 and a PhD in Health Science from Nova Southeastern University with an emphasis in Global Health in 2022. Her qualitative dissertation focused on the lived experiences of human trafficking survivor advocates and leaders, titled “Resiliency Lived: Experts’ Assets and Resources in the Anti-trafficking Movement.” She is a developing scholar in the Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars (GAHTS) and a member of the Human Trafficking and Disability Working Group and HEAL Trafficking. She co-authored the first human trafficking AOTA CEU for occupational therapy practitioners with Dr. Toni Thompson and Dr. Andrea Thinnes. She has presented internationally, nationally, and regionally on the intersection of occupational therapy, human trafficking, population health, and trauma-informed practice. Flick has authored book chapters on culture, health promotion, population health, trauma-informed care, psychosocial approaches, and emotional regulation. She has an informational video available on Simucase titled: “Occupational Therapy’s Role in Preventing and Responding to Human Trafficking.” She’s currently engaged in community-participatory action research with Esther Suh Kwon, a fellow occupational therapy clinician in the anti-trafficking movement, and Robin Stevens, PhD, MPH (Health Communications) at the University of Southern California. The three scholars are working with a faith-based collaborative, Elevate Ministries, in Los Angeles that offers a continuum of care (including occupational therapy services) for survivors of exploitation. The scholars are using the first-ever standardized assessment, the Outcomes for Human Trafficking Survivors (OHTS) tool, to study the effectiveness of collaborative service delivery on the quality of life and health outcomes of people seeking to thrive after exploitation.

Flick lives in Yakima, WA, where she enjoys the sunshine, mountain hikes, brewing beer, adult caregiving with her 87-year-old roommate (aka father-in-law), and loving life with her husband and their four furry babies.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

SPEAKERS

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