On January 13, 2025, at the invitation of her colleague and Senior Attorney Annie Wang of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Dr. Mary Beth Morrissey presented Trauma and Vicarious Trauma: Relieving Suffering, Building Solidarity, and Inter- and Transdisciplinary Collaborations in a Continuing Legal Education Program of the American Immigration Lawyers Association New York City Chapter’s DEI Committee. 

The Program focused on cultural trauma, PTSD and burnout, well-being perspective, managing secondary trauma, and impact of changes in immigration policy on immigration practitioners. Dr. Morrissey drew on the findings of her pilot study on vicarious trauma among social workers and attorneys in immigrant services with WSSW student co-researchers Francesca Acocella, Dinorah Briceno Reolon, and Jeovani Mata, and her interdisciplinary work in law, social work, and psychology on practices of accompaniment in immigrant services.