Member since
1994
Her job
Until August, Ferguson directed the refugee assistance and immigration services program at Catholic Social Services in Anchorage, Alaska. She led a team that provides assistance to refugees, immigrants and victims of trafficking. The team meets them at the airport, gets them housing and medical care, and provides financial assistance as well as case management and mental health support for up to five years after their arrival. Ferguson also served as the state's refugee coordinator, advocating for the needs of refugees and trafficking victims to policymakers.
Caring for those in need
An ad in a 1994 issue of the Monitor led Ferguson to her first psychology job and to her passion for helping refugees. She was hired as the psychology consultant in American Samoa and as part of her duties supervised a domestic violence shelter. When she arrived, she discovered nine Sri Lankan refugees residing in the shelter who had been detained and could neither immigrate to the United States nor return to their country.
"Somebody had mistakenly told them that American Samoa was America," she explains. Ferguson managed to resettle seven of the refugees in New Zealand and secured permanent residency status for the other two.
After two years in this post, Ferguson relocated to Alaska where she worked for an Alaska Native organization and eventually pursued refugee assistance full time. "I have one of the best jobs in the whole world; there's nothing that frustrates me about my job."
Still, Ferguson's biggest concern about the profession is the limited access people in poverty have to mental health care. "None of these people are ever going to have access to private practice," she says. "And yet, these are highly traumatized people who have experienced very difficult lives. If we don't help them, then their next generation will remain in that place."
Fitness and fish
In addition to her psychology doctorate, Ferguson has a master's degree in modern dance. "In graduate school, I was literally running between psychology classes, the counseling center and the dance program with leotards on underneath my clothes all the time!" When she's not teaching Zumba, Ferguson runs and spends time with her husband and two children and enjoys tranquil "Alaskan life," which includes hiking, camping and dip-net fishing in the ocean. "I have not bought salmon in 15 years."
Adventure awaits
Ferguson is now hoping to study the other side of the refugee equation — preventing people from becoming refugees. At Monitor press time, she and her family were moving to Haifa, Israel, where Ferguson will attend a master's program in peace and conflict management. "The chance for psychologists to be involved in other areas that are less traditional is exciting. I just hope that as psychologists, we all look to take our skills to another level."
— Eureka Foong
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