Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carolina Jimenez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Carolina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

One of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me is “adopt” me during my internship year; I moved from Texas to California, it was my first time living away from my family . I was feeling lonely and discouraged and a woman from a small church in California named Liz Towler welcomed me with open arms. I started exchanging emails with her before moving to California; she learned about me and how I was a doctoral student who needed to complete a year of internship before I could earn my Ph.D. She anticipated my needs without me even asking! She knew I was only moving with my car, books, and whatever could fit in my car’s trunk and backseat. I still remember her sweet voice more than a decade later saying “little Carolina, you are a student, you are going to need a bed to get good rest, a bookcase for all your books, and a desk for studying.” I remember thinking “that won’t be necessary, I will only be there for one year” but Liz arranged for someone to loan me everything I needed and for it to be delivered to my apartment!!! It was the first time someone went out of their way to bless me in a huge way and I will never forget how much it meant. Not only that, but she also adopted me as a family member, she allowed me to come over and do laundry at her house, and she invited me to have lunch, dinner, and breakfast with her. Her loving kindness is one of the biggest gifts she has for others.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I decided to start my private practice in 2015; I often received requests to conduct psychological evaluations for immigration cases. Since I started working with immigrants conducting clinical interviews in 1998 as part of a research team studying immigrants’ mental health with the Center for Immigration Research at the University of Houston, transitioning to a psychological practice specializing in immigration evaluations was a natural next step. I draw on over 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist in outpatient settings, including in substance abuse rehabilitation facilities, university counseling centers, school districts, and non-profit organizations to offer the best services possible.

Eventually, the demand for my immigration services was so high I decided to work in private practice full-time. I specialize in conducting comprehensive psychological evaluations for immigration cases (VAWA, U visa, asylum, extreme hardship, cancellation of removal). I completed over two dozen trainings to conduct psychological evaluations for immigration cases and have completed over 930 evaluations. My graduate school research projects include: 1. my dissertation examining predictors of well-being and depression among Latino college students, 2. my thesis analyzing predictors of depression among Central American and Mexican Immigrants, and 3. My master’s research studying college adaptation of international and first-generation students; these extensive projects provided me with insight regarding the unique factors contributing to well-being and mental health concerns among historically underserved and immigrant populations.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was to “be quiet.” I often heard several phrases growing up that commanded me to “shut up,” “not call attention” to myself, and to not take up time or space. These messages were so pervasive that they eventually contributed to me developing social anxiety. I had to work for years to unlearn that harmful lesson and undo its detrimental effects on my personal and professional life. I was forced to provide classroom presentations in grad school, I was forced to share my thoughts, and I was forced to highlight my skills. I had to change my perspective from “be quiet” to “speak up, you never know who can benefit from something you may share.”

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My most effective strategy for growing my clientele was to focus on the quality of my work. I found that the more trainings I took to conduct psychological evaluations for immigration cases the better the quality of my reports was and the more clients referred others by word of mouth.  The quality of my reports also earned me the trust of several immigration attorneys who shared my name and contact information with their colleagues who started to refer their clients to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: houstonimmigrationevaluations.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.carolina.jimenez
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimenezCounseling
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dr-carolina-jimenez-immigration-psychologist
• Other: jimenezcounseling.com

Image Credits
Carolina Jimenez Rompiendo El Silencio Univision