DEI Symposium Series - Destigmatizing Mental Health Through Career Development with International Students

This episode concludes our series of DEI conversations originally featured in the DEI Symposium of the NCDA 2024 Global Career Development Association Conference in San Diego, CA. Thank you to Dr. Elif Balin & Ivette Mekdessi, Kelly Woods, Sanaz Nabati, and Delyash Tsartsaeva who were all presenters for the original DEI Symposium session.

In this episode, Dr. Elif Balin and Sanaz Nabati discuss challenges international students face at the intersection of career development and mental health. They emphasize the importance of culturally-responsive practices and the need to normalize mental health support. The Multicultural Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) framework is introduced as a tool to promote cultural competency and advocate for holistic career development. The conversation highlights acculturative stress, the impact of policy changes, and the importance of community support and proactive resources.

Elif Balin, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, GCDF is an Associate Professor of Counseling and the Coordinator of the Career Counseling Program at San Francisco State University. Elif actively volunteers in community settings to support the cultural transition and work/career experiences of international students, new immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. She served as a co-founding chair of the NCDA International Student Services Committee (ISSC)(2013-2015) and later led this committee’s research team until 2020. Elif also serves in the NCDA task force as one of the subgroup chairs to revise multicultural career counseling competencies and on the NCDA research committee.

Sanaz Nabati, M.S. is an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Education and Development at University of California, Los Angeles, serving Students with Disabilities and International Students. As liaison to international students, she has become very knowledgeable and passionate about their employment issues and strives to support their unique challenges in their career development. She also leads the Pre-Law Advisor and Professional Graduate School Programming initiatives. 

Resources

• NCDA Committees – International Student Services Committee (ISSC)
  • NCDA’s ISSC Committee LinkedIn Group
  • ISCC Resource Guide
  • ISSC YouTube Channel
• NCDA Code of Ethics
• NCDA’s Multicultural Counseling Competencies
• NCDA Webinars
• CDQ article by the NCDA International Student Services Committee
• ACA Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC)
• CPT and OPT

Corrections/Clarification:

• The study and publications referenced at 8:29 began almost 5 years ago, not 3.
• The initial task force, which began in 2012 was not half international like the committee formation and status in 2015.

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