Refugee Mental Health

Suni Jani, MD, MPH & Elizabeth Ringler-Jayanthan, LSW, TCTSY-F

November 15 2019 12pm-1:30pm

MPA office, Columbia, MD or Online via Zoom
MEETS THE MD LICENSING REQUIREMENT FOR MULTICULTURAL/DIVERSITY

Workshop Instructional Level: Beginning

Dr. Suni Jani and Elizabeth Ringler-Jaynathan review the life circumstances of refugees and asylees resettling in the United States along with practical, evidence-based advice for therapists working with refugees or refugee organizations. 

This workshop is designed to help you:

• Understand healthcare barriers for refugees;
• Understand common mental health issues for refugees;
• Recommend evidence-based treatments for refugees. 

REGISTER 

Suni Jani, MD, MPH is a Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatrist. Dr. Jani currently serves as Director of Research and Development at Community Behavioral Health, a Joint Commission accredited rural mental health clinic that provides treatment in underserved areas of Maryland. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a Clinical Instructor at the George Washington University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry. She has done considerable research in various fields of psychiatry and project development in the creation of self-sustaining mental health systems in underserved populations through technological advancements and stigma reduction.

 Dr. Jani’s work is focused on issues of transcultural diagnosis and assessment in psychiatry, healthcare delivery for resource-poor areas and marginalized populations, refugee health, and effects of parental stress on child mental health and wellbeing. Her international experience includes consulting positions with program design, management, and evaluations with NGOs and academic institutions in India, Texas, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. She has been a SAMHSA Diversity Fellow and a Diversity Fellow with the American Psychiatric Association in addition to receiving the Houston based non-profit Doctors For Change Healthcare Advocacy Award for her work in public policy to increase funding for multidisciplinary care for refugees.

 Dr. Jani completed her Master’s in Public Health with a focus on Global Health along with her Doctor of Medicine degree at The George Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her General Psychiatry residency at the Baylor College of Medicine’s Menninger Department of Psychiatry and her Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the Harvard Medical School’s Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital program.

Elizabeth Ringler-Jayanthan, LSW, is a social worker and has focused her work on healing trauma. She has worked extensively with survivors of forced migration including refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of human trafficking in a variety of settings, and recently served at the national headquarters of the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) in Arlington, VA. Elizabeth currently serves as a trauma therapist with survivors of sexual violence in Pittsburgh, PA.

Elizabeth has worked extensively with survivors of gender-based violence and has facilitated support groups for immigrant women that have experienced intimate partner violence as well as other forms of gender-based violence.

Elizabeth holds a Master of Social Work from Barry University and a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a graduate of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Global Mental Health Trauma and Recovery Certificate. She has also completed Trauma Sensitive Yoga Teacher training with the Center for Trauma and Embodiment with the Justice Resource Institute.

Elizabeth is passionate about utilizing mind body approaches in work with her clients, particularly mindfulness, trauma-sensitive yoga, and integrating nature into her work.