Working with Immigrants: Community Care & Safety Planning
Collective Wisdom is our seasonal rhythm of communal, holistic learning. The belief that our need for human connection is enduring shapes these offerings. Our intent is to create an intentional space for inspiration, connection, deepening, and activation in service of collective healing.
This month, we turn our attention to Working with Immigrants: Community Care & Safety Planning
We are living in a moment where many of our clients — particularly those from immigrant communities — are carrying layers of fear, uncertainty, and risk. As helping professionals, we are being asked to hold more than ever before: legal ambiguity, cultural and political violence, and the very real question of safety. This workshop is an invitation to meet this moment with clarity, steadiness, and collective care.
Facilitated by Smruti Desai and Natasha Moonka, this workshop is designed to support clinicians and helping professionals in building practical, grounded capacity to support immigrant clients during an increasingly volatile political moment. Participants will gain concrete tools for safety planning, harm reduction, and building community care, with an emphasis on staying regulated, informed, and relational in the face of heightened risk to immigrant communities.
This training is a direct response to the current political climate and the very real emotional, legal, and material stressors impacting immigrants and those who serve them.
Through this workshop, participants will be able to:
Understand tangible and emotional risks to immigrants in a clear and regulated manner
Understand the clinical impact of cultural/political stress on ongoing clinical work
Gain a working understanding of the different types of immigration paperwork that folks may have, may apply for, or may not have but need
Leave with concrete strategies to help those who are at risk with safety planning and the development of community care plans
Leave with resources for continued learning, referrals, and support
Container
This is a hybrid offering. We will gather in person at Shelterwood’s home base in Pioneer Square and virtually via Zoom.
Following the formal close of the workshop, both in-person and virtual participants are warmly invited to stay for a more open, facilitated conversation. This space will focus on collective safety planning for our practices and communities — including how we want to respond to the current moment as individuals and groups. Topics may include preparing for potential immigration enforcement in shared buildings, supporting one another as providers, and exchanging localized resources for mutual aid and community care.
Exchange
General public with 1.5 CEUs — $44
General public without CEUs — $22
Shelterwood Members — included in your membership fee
If the cost of this offering is a barrier, please don’t hesitate to reach out to connect@shelterwoodcollective.com to explore sliding scale options.
Authorization
Participation includes 1.5 DEI-applicable continuing education units, if desired. These CEUs are authorized and approved by the NASW Washington State Chapter. Our provider #1975-507. Licensed social workers, marriage and family therapists, and mental health counselors are eligible.
Smruti Desai
Clinical Supervisor, LMHC, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (
She/her)
Smruti is a therapist and clinical supervisor primarily working with 1st & 2nd generation immigrants of color at the intersection of trauma and identity. Smruti is a child of immigrants and deeply involved in advocacy at the state level in Atlanta, GA.
Natasha Moonka
LMHCA (She/her)
Natasha is a therapist working with those who hold marginalized identities including 1st and 2nd immigrants. Natasha enjoys working with complex trauma, identity dynamics and intergenerational cultural conflicts.