1. Interviewee: Maria Marisol Martinez, MSW

2.  Medical Clinics  Dental Clinics  Behavioral Health Clinic  Nutritional Services  Social Services  Educational Services

3.  Advocacy Based Counseling Services  Legal  Resources and referral services  Connections to community agencies as needed  Transportation  Accompanying to court (pertaining to Domestic Violence case)  Facilitation of support groups  Community education  Domestic Violence Prevention

4.  As a Domestic Violence Therapist with Sea Mar:  Individual counseling sessions Safety planning Education Psycho-educational counseling  Provide Domestic Violence Information Help client identify type of domestic violence that he/she experienced  Refer to outside agencies as needed For immigration Lawyers (divorce, parenting plans, etc.)  Conduct Family Violence Options resources and couples counseling as identified, depending on client  Documentation maintain case records, complete services, and other records as needed.

5.  As an Advocate for Amigas Unidas:  Advocacy Based Counseling: This type of counseling is focused on listening to the client and helping them identify what their basic or main goal is.  Transportation To court, shelter, and/or medical facility  Self-Sufficiency Resources Housing ESL-classes Vocational training  Legal Advocacy Translation as needed during civil actions (protection orders, parenting plan, child support, divorce, immigration assistance, etc.)

6.  “Now that I am mostly working for Sea Mar and living in Seattle, my typical day consists of my job duties only. Occasionally when I go back to Yakima, I try to support Amigas Unidas as a volunteer.”  “Because our agency (Sea Mar) is open from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday, my schedule revolves around these times.”  “In a typical day I have clients scheduled from 8am to 5pm every other hour (an hour per client), but because I sometimes go over the hour, I usually come out after 5pm”  “The Clients I serve are mostly women, currently I have 4 male clients.”  “When I get to work, I start therapy first thing in the morning. I try to complete my documentation after each client so that all of the information is fresh in my head.”  “It usually takes me an hour (if not more) to complete my documentation.”  “I follow this schedule rarely because I get walk-ins that are usually crisis situations. I take the walk-in and provide safety planning.”  “But let me assure you, no day is typical”

7.  “I love everything about my job.”  “But when reflecting on what makes me the happiest about my job, it is the reward of empowering my clients.”  “Being able to help them identify their own support system, their highest and immediate needs, and recovering their independence; is what inspires me to continue to do what I do.”  “Also being able to see their progress as they take charge of their lives and their family’s well being, is absolutely rewarding.”

8.  “This question is easy, what I like the least of what I do, is feeling like I cannot fully support my clients. What I mean by this is; when there are so many barriers and so little resources.”  “Also I should say I dislike that we still have this issue in the community. As evolved human beings we should now understand that we cannot mistreat our partners, spouses, children, and/or our fellow community members.”

9.  “This is a tough question, I love my job and I love what I do.”  “One thing that I would like to see change or improve would be domestic violence prevention.”  “As I am a active volunteer for Amigas Unidas, we speak at community events, we go to schools to educate young people on domestic violence, and we have vigils almost once a month. We do not provide those type of services at` this agency.”  “So I suppose my answer to this would be, providing prevention services to children as soon as they start to comprehend.”

10.  “I strongly believe, domestic violence is a learned behavior.”  “What I mean by this is that domestic violence is a cycle in which children who grow up in an environment where domestic violence is present, they will either imitate the behavior (as a victim or as a perpetrator) or advocate against it.”  “As a child who grew up in a domestic violence environment, I married and assumed the role of the victim. After analyzing my life I was able to get out of the situation and become an advocate against domestic violence.”

11.  “When I was experiencing domestic violence and my family would try and help me, I felt like they did not know or understood my situation.”  “All it was, was poor timing, I was not ready to come out of the situation.”  “To me it is extremely important that victims recognize their situation and understand that it is not normal behavior. Especially women from the Hispanic culture who believe they belong to their husbands once they marry them, because marriage makes you your spouses maid.”  “Domestic violence education is key when intervening, but a victim who is ready to leave will seek the help and maintain a plan to keep his/herself safe.”  “And of course support groups are very helpful to victim/survivors.”

12.  Recruitment  “Making the community Aware of Domestic Violence”  Teen education  “Providing presentations and awareness to teens and young adults”  Community involvement  “Speaking out in community events”  Parenting education  “Making parents aware of the impact of domestic violence on their children”  Advocacy  “Advocating against domestic violence”  Education  “Educating the community on the reality of domestic violence and how it impacts our youth.”

13.  “Social Workers need to be culturally competent and be able to understand that a family’s culture impacts the way parents believe is the correct way to parent.”  Marisol then shared the following video and said, “this video can help me explain what I am trying to say about the importance of education for the future of our children.”  http://youtu.be/1e8xgF0JtVg http://youtu.be/1e8xgF0JtVg