By Dr. Rosa Garcia-Peltoniemi, former CVT senior consulting clinician

I began working at the Center for Victims of Torture shortly after getting a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota. My first job as a full-fledged “doctor” was at a technical assistance center for refugee mental health programs around the U.S., a project at the University which was funded by the federal government. Prior to that I had worked as a clinician and researcher at the psychiatry department of Ramsey County Hospital, which is now Regions Hospital in St. Paul, for several years while collecting data for my dissertation. Since it was possible then to be licensed as a psychologist with a master-equivalent degree, I worked at Ramsey Hospital with both hospitalized patients and outpatients at the psychiatric clinic. While some patients were refugees and immigrants, my experience treating these groups was limited. However, working at the UMN technical assistance center familiarized me directly with the existing literature on refugee mental health in both broad and specific ways.

Staff at the technical assistance center were mostly faculty at the UMN in various disciplines relevant to refugee work: medicine, psychiatry, psychology, public health, social work, language interpretation and immigration processes related to refugees. I was given the job of writing two papers, one on the epidemiology of mental health difficulties in refugees, and a second one on clinical implications and recommendations for their treatment once in resettlement countries. There were few databases available on these topics at the time. I did have access to a number of experts working at the technical assistance center and the resources of UMN libraries and librarians. Along with a team of colleagues I also traveled to various programs around the U.S. offering services to refugees.

I had my own personal history of coming to the United States as a political refugee at the age of 17, brought by my parents who suffered political repression. My father had been threatened several times with internment at the notorious UMAP re-education camps in Cuba in the late 1960s; his crime against the state was to apply for permission to leave the country. What saved him from going was the lack of transport, which while a common occurrence in the country at the time, seemingly by pure luck happened every time he was summoned. He was still sent to forced labor at farm fields near our home in the capital after a government psychiatrist declared him “clinically depressed.”

There was then no such thing as a one treatment fits all, nor is there now.”

-Dr. Rosa Garcia-Peltoniemi, former CVT senior consulting clinician

While keenly aware of my skills along with this motivating factor in my past, I also understood the importance of specific aspects that each and every survivor of political violence brings when addressing the consequences of such violence. There was then no such thing as a one treatment fits all, nor is there now. I was also convinced that for rehabilitative treatment to be successful it needed to offer assistance from several disciplines, including those that make access to social services and employment possible, along with strong and determined support from the community.

Concurrently, I became aware of ongoing efforts started by then-Governor Perpich to create a center in Minnesota dedicated to the rehabilitation of torture survivors. I discussed these efforts with colleagues from Ramsey Hospital who encouraged me to follow that process, which I did. Once CVT started offering services to clients near the UMN campus, I applied to work there on a part-time basis while continuing my work at the technical assistance center.

I approached my first clients at CVT with a bit of trepidation. My colleagues at Ramsey Hospital, Drs. Jaranson, a psychiatrist, and Holtan, an internist, who were also working at CVT on a part-time basis, provided helpful orientation and so did early staff and volunteers already at CVT. I vividly remember my first visit to the small bungalow on the outskirts of the UMN; a volunteer at the front desk who went on to become a long-time staff member, Ann Lundberg, greeted me warmly.

I also remember the first client I met; this man shared his story in detail and was very attentive when listening to what I said about rehabilitative treatment. He then proceeded to tell me he was not ready to start this treatment yet—he thought he would be “in one year.” I was struck by how specific he was. And I also thought to myself that I would probably never see him again. A year passed, by then I was at CVT full time, and he called asking if I “remembered” him. How could I not? This first client went on to participate in his rehabilitation diligently and in a strikingly self-directed manner, even bringing a list of goals to accomplish and often sharing his accomplishments (e.g., U.S. citizenship; first time voting; marriage) with the entire staff at CVT. In the years to come, I found out there were many other clients, young and old, who were highly motivated to participate in rehabilitative treatment at CVT.

I found out there were many other clients, young and old, who were highly motivated to participate in rehabilitative treatment at CVT.”

Fast forward 30 plus years: it was time for me to retire. This was scheduled in October during the first year of the pandemic. My colleagues and I had begun providing services remotely, usually by phone or through Zoom. In my case, this also meant saying goodbye to clients. There was a session set aside ahead of time for saying goodbye. Whenever the client was also ending treatment at CVT, I liked to pair up with another provider in the client’s treatment team, usually the social worker. Saying goodbye on Zoom did not feel right. So whenever possible we arranged to meet outside on the porch. Other times we would go to the client’s home and we would meet outdoors or at a park. These were emotional times for the clients and also for me. Time and again they talked about how important it had been for them to have the confidential and comprehensive services provided by CVT.

Shown in photo: Dr. Garcia-Peltoniemi with Governor Jesse Ventura, 2001.

My work at CVT provided me with a unique opportunity for making a meaningful contribution to a difficult problem in our world, one that I knew well personally. It is difficult for me to imagine more meaningful work that I could have done instead. I experienced the growth of the center’s services from a local program to one interacting with programs at many other colleague organizations in the U.S. and even in many CVT programs at various other countries in the world. With most of this growth there were countless opportunities for innovation, cross fertilization and significant increases in knowledge related to rehabilitation from torture and other human rights abuses.

Time and again they talked about how important it had been for them to have the confidential and comprehensive services provided by CVT.”

I am very aware that we are living in a different world, and in some ways more difficult times, and that many of these programs have had a precipitous end. Nonetheless, I remain hopeful that with our knowledge, heightened determination and persistence in what we know is true and valuable, our work on behalf of torture survivors and refugees will endure and flourish again.