Amy Smith is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) who has practiced social work for over 25 years in interprofessional nonprofit and healthcare organizations throughout the Twin Cities Metro and in community development NGOs in Guatemala and Honduras. She focuses on engagement in trauma-informed social work interventions that include assessment, advocacy, systems navigation and supportive counseling to connect clients to essential services and resources that contribute to better physical and mental health outcomes. The primary focus of her career has been working with refugees, immigrants and political asylum seekers. She has extensive practice and training expertise in the issue of labor trafficking of foreign-born survivors and the intersection between immigration status and public benefits access.
When training students, Amy emphasizes the client in social environment perspective, the value of working in an interprofessional context and the importance of recognizing systemic barriers to more fully address clients’ psycho-social determinants of health in order to foster their overall well-being.