Assessing, Treating, and Making Referrals for Cases of Discrimination
Legal Analysis
The Weibling psycholegal counseling center developed in conjunction with existing university services (UNL Psychological Consultation Center and the UNL Law Clinic) to interview, collect data, and refer individuals who believe themselves to be victims of discrimination at work, in school, and in the general community is at the heart of the project. The Weibling Project advises clients about the law that regulates the type of discrimination about which each could complain (i.e., disability, religious, racial, ethnic, gender, age, or sexual orientation) and directs each person to an appropriate agent (e.g., lawyer, EEOC, community agency, police) to assist them with the discrimination problem. Trained law students and law faculty review the case facts that the clients bring and help determine the availability of legal recourse for the clients. If a viable legal case exists, the Project will refer the client to some possible places to seek legal assistance. If a viable legal case does not present itself but the client is in need of psychological counseling the Center legal staff will refer the client to our counseling services.
Psychological Counseling
Minority stress is the idea that being a member of a devalued or stigmatized group is stressful in many large and small ways in one's daily life. Over time, this stress accumulates and could lead to mental health problems. The Weibling Project offers assessment and treatment services to individuals who have experienced discrimination and are in need of some basic stress management skills to help with what they might currently be experiencing, as well as prevent more serious mental health that could arise at a later time. Some of the screening and training assists individuals struggling with anxiety, emotional difficulties, and lack of assertiveness in the face of discrimination to help empower them to take the necessary steps to both improve their mental health and to remove the discrimination from their lives. The Weibling Project assesses psychological issues, evaluates legal claims, makes referrals, and offers limited psychological services at no cost to the clients. Clients who need additional psychological services can obtain them at a low cost from the UNL Psychological Consultation Center (PCC) or at other community resources.
Among the clients whom the project can help are:
- People who experience bias at work because of religion, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation and who suffer from emotional distress as a result of discrimination
- Poor and indigent people who suffer from housing discrimination because of physical and mental disabilities.
- Families with special needs children who are victims of discrimination because of their unique family needs.
- Individuals who become indigent because of mental and physical disabilities, which cost them their job and livelihoods.
- Any persons who suffer from emotional distress because of the role that potentially illegal discrimination plays in their social and psychological adjustment.
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