Asians Do Therapy

In this conversation, I speak with Panthea Lee.  She has written for The Nation, The Atlantic, Harper’s Bazaar, worked at the United Nations, and co-founded a social justice organization, Reboot, which she led for over 13 years working on initiatives and launching programs in over 30 countries for the likes of UNICEF and the World Bank. Her full bio below. I first learned about Panthea by reading...

In this conversation, I speak with erin Khuê Ninh. erin has some really important ideas about the Asian immigrant family that are a bit confronting and perhaps truth telling.  She argues that the Asian immigrant family is a form of a capitalist production unit, producing “model children” who strikingly resemble the model minority.  Some of the topics we talk about: the themes of debt and repayment...

New podcast episode! In this conversation, I speak with Sahaj Kaur Kohli. We chat about: the re-authoring of her story through writing her book her hopes and fears surrounding its release being a cultural broker in her family and the shifts in her family dynamics with her parents and siblings mental health and what it means, differences in mental health education and therapy her therapy journey an...

In this conversation, I speak with J.S. Park.  His posts and words have, at times, moved me to tears.  It was such a pleasure to speak with him about work, life, death, birth, grief and bulgogi!  More specifically, we talk about: his journey to becoming a chaplain climbing mount assimilation and what gets lost what he means about being therapriest what got him into consistent therapy and medicatio...

In this conversation, I speak to Michelle MiJung Kim.  She is a queer Korean American immigrant woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She the author of the award winning, The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change. Michelle is the first non-therapist I have on the podcast for some time. I have been inspired by her advocacy and activism, specially so in the la...

In this conversation, I speak with Dhwani Shah, MD (he/him) who is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.  Some highlights of our conversation: what psychoanalysis is and is not; some realities and misconceptions of it how love and hate exists in all of our relationships how therapy is a listening practice above all the intersection of therapy and culture the collective racialized fantasies of "As...

In this episode, I speak with Vickie Ya-Rong Chang (she/her).  I got connected to Vickie because I wanted to speak to a clinician who had been working with clients and had expertise on climate anxiety and despair.  The psychological and emotional impact of climate change is irrefutable. We don’t need research to know that we can’t be doing well when our home, our planet is on fire and flooding. Bu...

In this episode, I speak with Rosa Lim (she/her) who is a clinical psychologist based in NYC. We cover a lot in 45 minutes. Rosa and I talk about:  ·       the difference between eating disorders and disordered eating, ·       how eating disorders is a disorder of disconnection,  ·       the correlation of trauma and eating disorders, ·       how eating disorders develop, ·       the kinds of trea...

In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Jenny Tzu-Mei Wang (she/hers) about her new book, Permission to Come Home. Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans.  Some of what we talk about in this conversation: How the book came to be How she weaved in the personal, the educational and the practical Her journey off the well marked path Her experiences in therapy Her love for Asian and Asian American...

In this conversation, I speak with Dr. Valerie Yeo (she/her), a psychologist who specializes in religious and racial trauma based in Portland, Oregon. Our discussion is within the context of the Evangelical church. Some of what we discussed: Adverse religious experience and religious trauma. How are they different? When folks are deconstructing their faith, what might they be experiencing? The int...

In this conversation, I speak with Linda Thai (she/hers). Linda is a Vietnamese Australian trauma and somatic therapist currently living in Alaska.  I was very intrigued by Linda's work. She is writing and researching about the intersections of trauma, healing and adult children of refugees, specifically Vietnamese refugees.  Some of what we touched upon in this conversation: Naming the losse...

In this conversation, Navin shares with me his experiences in therapy and answers some of my questions: Why talking to a therapist has been different for him from talking to family and friends Why feeling his emotions has been so valuable What happened when he started working with an Asian American therapist Why was it important for him to tell his parents about being in therapy.  Navin provides a...

In this conversation, I speak with Hatty about what brings our Asian and Asian Americans clients into therapy specifically as it relates to family.  We talk about how early childhood experiences and family dynamics impact our clients in their present lives. We talk about parentified children, childhood trauma and neglect, the pressure and threats that adult children experience, intergenerational g...

In this conversation, I speak with Michelle. Michelle is a writer, a mental health advocate, a partner, mother, an immigrant, a takeout kid.  And, she was diagnosed with bipolar I disorder in her early 20s.  We talked about her family dynamics, the legacy of trauma and abuse she experienced, how the mental health system failed her and what can go wrong in the therapist / client relationship. We al...

In this conversation, I speak to with Jenjee Sengkhammee PhD about  the diversity in the Asian American identity and experiences the range of responses from Asian people to the Black Lives Matter movement  how white supremacy affects Asian Americans  the position we have been placed within the white supremacy system.  Dr. Jenjee Sengkhammee (she/her) identifies as a Hmong American woman raised in...

In this conversation, I speak with Anneliese Singh PhD, LPC (she/they) about racial healing strategies from her book, The Racial Healing Handbook.  Dr. Singh says that racism is the greatest trauma that we live with and that navigating racism is not sufficient.  We need to wake up, we to learn about racism, we need to grieve and we need to hope. We discuss racial identity development, racial socia...

Jenny and I talk about what anxiety is, how it manifests and offer some concrete suggestions on how to lessen it during this pandemic. Dr. Jenny Wang is a first generation, Taiwanese American licensed psychologist in Texas and North Carolina. She earned her undergraduate degree with honors in finance and psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her passion for psychology and the realizatio...

Aimée and I talk about her journey in therapy with five different therapists and the various seasons of therapy.<br> <p>We talked about blue M&Ms, her Chinese father’s view on therapy, what didn’t work for her in therapy, how she chose her current therapist of six years and what has been helpful to her in therapy. <br> <p>Aimée Suen (she/her) is a mixed raced (Chinese,...

Welcome to Asians Do Therapy, conversations with Asians and Asian Americans on both sides of the couch! What to expect from the podcast. Send your questions to asiansdotherapy@gmail.com.