Department of Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States; Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States.
Psychiatry Res. 2020 Feb;284:112752. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112752. Epub 2020 Jan 7.
Asylum seekers who have survived torture and other abuses may experience a wide range of psychological symptoms associated with depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. During the asylum process, attorneys might refer their clients to clinicians who document these psychological sequelae of human rights violations. However, the need for forensic psychological evaluations exceeds the number of mental health clinicians available to provide these assessments. It has been suggested that primary care physicians, professionals who already play essential roles in the identification and treatment of mental health issues, may be able to conduct these evaluations. Yet, there is little empirical knowledge of what prior training and clinical experiences support mental health and non-mental health professionals who engage in this work, and what is needed to prepare general practitioners to provide forensic psychological evaluations to asylum seekers. This pilot study found non-mental health practitioners with experience in psychological forensic evaluations reached a level of confidence in conducting evaluations of asylum seekers comparable to general mental health practitioners. The study also identified clinicians' perceptions of training that supports them in their forensic psychological evaluations, their professional development needs, and the potential for general practitioners to leverage their current skill sets in this work.
寻求庇护者在经历酷刑和其他虐待后，可能会出现各种与抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激障碍相关的心理症状。在寻求庇护的过程中，律师可能会将其客户转介给临床医生，由他们记录这些侵犯人权行为的心理后果。然而，需要进行法医心理评估的人数超过了能够提供这些评估的心理健康临床医生的数量。有人建议，已经在识别和治疗心理健康问题方面发挥重要作用的初级保健医生，也许能够进行这些评估。然而，对于从事这项工作的心理健康和非心理健康专业人员需要哪些先前的培训和临床经验来支持，以及如何培训全科医生为寻求庇护者提供法医心理评估，几乎没有实证知识。这项试点研究发现，有心理法医评估经验的非心理健康从业者在对寻求庇护者进行评估方面的信心水平可与一般心理健康从业者相媲美。该研究还确定了临床医生对支持其法医心理评估的培训的看法、他们的专业发展需求，以及全科医生在这项工作中利用其现有技能的潜力。
