Refugee Service: Stressors, Coping Mechanisms, and Policy Changes

This essay explores the multifaceted stressors encountered by interns within refugee services, specifically focusing on the context of Maine immigration. The author, working as a case management official, identifies both external and internal pressures. External stressors include the demanding workload, emotional toll of counseling displaced individuals, time constraints, challenges in educating and empowering refugees, and funding uncertainties. Internal stressors stem from personal identity, such as being a Muslim intern and a Black individual, leading to feelings of threat and surveillance. To manage these stressors, the essay proposes strategies like structured information gathering, building rapport with clients, organizing fundraising events, fostering strong leadership, improving communication, and implementing safety policies. The author emphasizes the importance of maintaining boundaries between personal and professional life, and the use of meditation for stress relief, concluding that while the work is challenging, effective coping mechanisms can be employed.

Running head: REFUGEE SERVICE
REFUGEE SERVICE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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REFUGEE SERVICE
Maine immigration and its refugee services offers a learning environment that is quite
favourable for inernsships. The interns and other officials offers pure service to the refugees
who come to them. However, dealing with immigrants all the times may be quite stressful
and mentally challenging as well. The primary aim of the essay is to discuss the stress that is
faced by the interns along with methods of handling those stress.
I work as a case management official and that comes with a lot of workload as well as
challenges. Being an officer of this rank I am expected to interview the clients who come to
me and obtain information about their lives. Dealing with these children acts as an external
stress for me. My role is to provide case management to my clients and work towards their
benefit which is quite hectic and stressful. Secondly another stress that is caused by this job is
counselling the displaced people. In this situation I at times feel stressed as being a new
member in the organisation I do not have the confident to offer counselling to distressed
people. Another external stress is the shortage of time that does not give enough time to me
as well as other officials to take rest. As there is a lot of we as interns usually do not get
enough time to take rest and refresh ourselves. Furthermore, another external stress is to
empower as well as educate the refugees. This might also prove to be a challenge as many of
the refugees would be hesitant to take up the education. Explaining them that the organisation
would help them as well as their family members to adjust as well as adapt them so that they
can live without any threat within the environment of Maine is quite stressful as initially
people do not trust the officials easily. Another stress that I have faced is the problem of
funding. Maine immigration services receives funds from private individuals therefore it is an
organisation that is run on humanitarian basis instead of being a profit-related business. The
main concern of this type of funding is that the funds can stop at any moment since it is not a
government aided organisation. If the funds stop coming then it would be very difficult to
manage such a huge number of people. Therefore, this again acts as an external stress.

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REFUGEE SERVICE
Similarly that are many internal stress that is caused my personal thinking pattern.
Being a Muslim intern itself is a threat as people look at such people with suspicion. This
naturally causes huge mental stress for me as I am always under threat and surveillance. To
add on to the problem I also belong to the Black origin that again leads to stress as we have
always been subject of subjugation. We have to face many external threats. I might lose my
job if people are not comfortable being around me. One of the most challenging situation
faced by the me that causes internal stress is interviewing children who are already
traumatized as they are displaced from their homeland. Dealing with these children acts as an
internal stress.
To handle the above stress it is essential that I make a list of questions that I will ask
the new immigrants to collect information from them. Spending quality time with these
people will also make me as well as the immigrant comfortable with each other. The stress
regarding the funds can be solved by arranging regular programs like sports, events like
marathons as well as corporate dinner. Another way to deal with the stress is to build a strong
leadership so that people would listen and obey that individual. Good communication within
the team will also act as a stress buster. There should be separate policy for the safety as well
as security of the staff working within the organisation especially when the person belongs to
a community or race that is always under surveillance. Furthermore, to maintain a healthy
boundary between personal as well as professional life I will have to divide the time that I
spend working as well as my personal life. To create a balance between the two it is
necessary to spend time doing some meditation to relieve the stress that would also help in
focusing on the work as well as personal life. To stay safe in the workplace it is also essential
to maintain good and friendly relationship with others and ask for policies that would protect
them.

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REFUGEE SERVICE
Therefore, to conclude it must be noted that working as an intern in the immigration
service of Maine is quite stressful as well as challenging. However, these stress factors can be
solved with efficiency and presence of mind.