Briana Dominguez, a child and family therapist within our Family Wellness Program, was recently awarded a Special Recognition Research Award by Touro University for her research examining the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with undocumented children in New York City.
Briana, who joined Children’s Aid in 2021, graduated this year from the University’s Graduate School of Social Work. Her focus on therapy for undocumented and unaccompanied children is deeply personal – Briana moved to the United States from Mexico with her mother as a toddler. While she faced challenges, working as an interpreter at a law school clinic for minors in immigration and family courts taught her that many children make this move without a trusted adult.
Mental health services to help these young people process trauma and dislocation they may have experienced as a result of their journey are scarce, and Briana’s research highlights the critical need for interventions for this vulnerable population.
Read more about her research and what she learned as a result.
