Where I Work

  I work in an outpatient community mental health agency.  We are in an old house located smack in the neighborhood where our clients live.  We have 5 therapists, a psychiatrist, and a nurse practitioner plus 2 secretaries and a guy who does drug and alcohol outreach.  Everyone is Hispanic save me and one other therapist, and our psychiatrist is from Pakistan.  A good bit more than half of our clients are Hispanic, primarily with origins in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Most come to us by way of New York City and many have family in the Bronx or Brooklyn as well as having relatives in the Caribbean.  We are in Eastern Pa, which is about an hour and a half from NYC.  This part of Pennsylvania has been traditionally white, with most people having either German or Irish roots. The influx from New York has been going on for about 10-15 years.
   Everyone in the office is bilingual, except for one therapist.  Almost all of my clients are bilingual as well, and there is a great deal of language switching all day, every day.  I have 5 or 6 clients who are Spanish only, and have had sessions which begin in Spanish and switch to English part way through.  It is kind of interesting to say the least.