Asylum Psychological Reports: How to Document Trauma and Resilience

“This is, unfortunately just so typical of those of us who immigrate to another country. There are wins and there are losses. There's that bittersweetness… The joy of bringing this new child into the world, and the grief over not being able to share this special moment with those whom we love, either because they've passed or they're back in our home country.”

This is what Cady Voge, filmmaker and journalist, told me in an interview on the Beyond Borders podcast, as we talked about her documentary, All We Carry, which follows a young family’s journey from Honduras to the U.S.

When I watched All We Carry, I was moved by how it captures not just the trauma of migration but also the resilience of the human spirit. 

The documentary follows a husband and wife and their children fleeing from violence in Honduras, seeking asylum in the U.S., and being taken in by a very welcoming (and wealthy) family to live in a house by the ocean. 

If this sounds too idyllic of an asylum story, Cady agrees.

“It was such an outlier story,” she said. “I worried that it could get misconstrued of, like, ‘oh, okay, so this is what happens’…. Focusing on the mental health piece was a tool to show that's really not the whole story…. You have the blessing and the burden. The journey and the separation.

One thing I love about this documentary is how the focus is more on the husband and wife’s individual experiences – their emotional journeys – as opposed to focusing on the immigration process itself (the immigration regulations, all the bureaucracy).

It’s a film that amplifies how, for immigrants, joy and grief constantly intertwine. 

“You can't hate anyone whose story you know,” Cady said. “If we can create a story that makes you kind of fall in love with this family and this experience, and see your own story in one way or another in their experience, and that builds empathy and compassion, then hopefully you leave the film and – because you know the parts that you wanna learn more about – you go look it up.”

So catch my interview with Cady on my podcast, where we talk about the family’s important story, what went into making their film, and the powerful moments that didn't make it to the screen. 

🎙️The Emotional Toll of Seeking Asylum – With Filmmaker Cady Voge

🔊 Listen now:

🎧 Apple Podcasts                             🎧 Spotify                                   🎧 YouTube

Then watch All We Carry and share it with a colleague or attorney. 

📝 Conducting Asylum Evaluations Course – In this self-paced course, learn how to evaluate the psychological impact of torture or persecution of an immigrant seeking asylum, and how to professionally communicate your findings in an asylum report.