Using the Bridge Art Therapy Assessment to Measure Resiliency Levels in Latino Immigrants: A Review of the Literature

Thousands of Latino Immigrants enter the borders of the United States on a daily basis (PEW, 2010). Many of them experience challenging circumstances through the transition process of moving and adapting to life in a new country. The odds of success are often against them, yet many immigrants often manage to adapt, survive, and excel through adversity. Some of the challenges experienced in their journey are barriers of acculturation, language, oppression, access to medical and mental care, employment, and discrimination. The focus of this paper is to assess entities of resiliency and identify resiliency strategies used by Latin American Immigrants living in the United States. This exploration will use the Bridge Art Assessment in conjunction with measures of The Hope Index and the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH). The objective of this study is to acquire data that highlights strengths, coping strategies and hope levels, and comparing them to levels of acculturation. Identifying these can provide insight to the way the integration of acculturation into a new environment impacts hope and coping strategies. This information can discover areas of need, or improvement for resources to further support this population