School Social Work, Immigration, Racism as Trauma – Katherine Ambía, LMSW

Episode 11
Guest: Katherine Ambía, LMSW
Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW

Katherine Ambía, LMSW, clinical site coordinator at a school-based mental health clinic in Queens, New York, shares her work with high school students navigating racism, historical trauma, colonialism, and the fear created by immigration enforcement. She discusses how she creates space for students to talk openly, the impact of family separation and deportation on youth and their families, and what it means to do this work as a member of a targeted community. Katherine also reflects on self-care, self-disclosure, balancing work with activism, and finding hope in youth.

In this episode:

• School-based mental health work with high school students in Queens and creating safe space for honest conversation
• Racism, historical trauma, colonialism, and immigration as issues affecting students' lives
• The impact of family separation, ICE, and deportation on students, families, and practitioners
• Self-care, self-disclosure, balancing work with activism, and finding hope in youth organizing

Email katherine.ambia@gmail.com

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Music credit
"District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/