Beyond the Couch

This week, Sam chats with Lynn Min, LMHC, about the therapeutic use of psychedelics to reach greater self-understanding, self-compassion, and actual healing. They go into what it feels like to come out of psychedelic trips and feel lighter and at peace, and the power of these medicines to rewire your brain to become more receptive to healing. They marvel at the magic of being able to look at your...

This week, Diana chats with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin about the anxieties we have about money and how to cultivate a healthier relationship to our finances. They discuss the mental, cultural, and emotional hurdles that keep many people, especially those who identify as BIPOC or come from immigrant backgrounds, from gaining financial literacy. They talk about how to cultivate a sense of enoughness in th...

This week, Christie sits down with Anna Huang and Chloe Chan of @ mottstreetgirls to talk about the community and vibrancy of New York City’s Chinatown. They chat about how they came to appreciate their identities more through learning more about their culture’s history and how they have come to view education as a way to heal the cycle of collective trauma. The discuss their views on the gentrifi...

This week, Diana chats with Asha Aravindakshan about making the power of personal relationships, putting yourself out there, and resisting societal and cultural expectations in making a career change. They talk about the ways in which you can build out your first- and second-degree networks, manage uncertainty and tolerance for risk as you make a career pivot, and tips and strategies for effective...

This week, Christie chats with Meghan Nayyar about the complexities of navigating cultural gaps, holding multiple identities, and growing up in a culture that’s not their family’s dominant one. They reflect on the challenges that their immigrant parents must have faced in raising children in such foreign environments, and how conversations with them about culture and mental health have evolved ove...

This week, Diana and Samuel Shin talk about healthy and fulfilling ways to embrace one’s masculinity/femininity, sexuality, self-confidence, and dating. They explore the challenges and hurdles that men, in particular, often face when it comes to dating and relationships, overcoming attachment issues, and connecting with their authentic selves. They also delve into the specific challenges that many...

This week, Sam, Christie, and Diana get together to chat about code-switching as an Asian-American and how moving between the different spaces of work, home, and social life bring out various aspects of their identity in each situation. They reminisce about flexing between school and home during their childhoods and trying to fit in as kids (shout out to Christie’s Limited Too glitter horse pants!...

This week, Sam chats with Sheen Yap Chan about building up self-confidence as an Asian woman, the importance of supporting one another, and challenging societal expectations of Asian women. They discuss how perfectionism pervades Asian culture and how the pressure to be perfect might hinder achieving one’s goals. As members of the Asian diaspora themselves, Sam and Sheena also discuss the ways in...

This week, Christie chats with Caroline Lay about their experiences as Asian-American women, and as Asian-American women therapists. They talk about how growing up with non-strict parents magnified the gratitude and guilt they felt for their family’s sacrifices and shaped the pressure that they placed on themselves. They dive into the challenges of differentiating one’s identity and dreams from th...

This week, Diana chats with Annalyn Cruz about trusting your inner voice and taking the steps to craft a career that truly makes you fulfilled and happy. They talk about how taking the time to recover from burnout motivated Annalyn to take the leap and leave a corporate job to start her business in leadership coaching. They also discuss the importance of soul-searching and trusting yourself to not...

This week, Diana chats with Cynthia Pong (@embracechangenyc) about how to move forward with a career change, how career coaching has changed over the years, and the importance of trying new things and embracing failure as progress. They also discuss the ways in which we’ve been socialized in western society to prioritize individualist thinking over community or seeking help, as well as how an Asia...

This week, Christie chats with Yu-Kang Chen, PhD, about the challenges of getting mental health care for loved ones. They discuss how language barriers, technological difficulties with telehealth, and misconceptions around treatment might make older family members hesitate to seek help. While every individual is unique and complicated in their physical and emotional needs, Christie and Yu-Kang exp...

This week, Diana chats with Sweta Vikram about the 5000+ years-long practice of Ayurveda and how to look at mental and physical health in a more holistic, integrated way. They discuss the different types of doshas (a concept of bodily humor), being in tune with the natural course of the seasons and times of the day, and the benefits of working with, not against, our bodies, their needs, and our na...

This week, Sam, Diana & Christie chat about the origin of attachment theory, different attachment styles, and how understanding your personal attachment style can be beneficial to the way you relate to others. Together they discuss how to learn from, embrace and work with your attachment style, and build intimacy instead of shame with others. They also talk about how attachment styles might im...

This week, Diana chats with Joy Lieberthal Rho, LCSW (@iamadoptee) about how adoptees might explore their cultural and racial identity, the key challenges they face in defining a sense of self and family, and how the adoptee community has evolved and found camaraderie with the diasporan AAPI community at large. They chat about how conversations around identity and the adoption process have been ab...

This week, Christie is back with Nita Batta, LMSW, and Tiffany Momoko Kindred, LMSW, to explore complex identities and cultures within romantic partnerships. They discuss navigating multicultural partnerships themselves, and offer guidance on cultivating curiosity, respect and acceptance of each other’s differences.  Together, they explore ways to honor the traditions and experience of each partne...

This week, Diana chats with Sammy Yuen about how he merges his work in the creative and publishing world with his personal passions to help people fight against anti-Asian hate. Sammy shares how he has contributed to his community through his art and self-defense classes, how his relationship to his Asian-American roots and history has evolved, and how he cares for himself throughout all that he j...

This week, Sam is back with Dr. Michelle Chung to talk about how to identify the two different types of perfectionistic behaviors and begin to challenge them. They chat about how each category of perfectionism can manifest at work, in relationships, and in our inner monologues, getting in the way of healthy ways to approach life. Though it may be challenging, they discuss ways to practice adopting...

This week, Sam chats with Dr. Michelle Chung about how Confucianist roots, collectivist values, and the idea of filial piety prime perfectionist thinking in many Asian cultures. They discuss the paralysis that might come with perfectionism, as well as guilt and shame when perfectionist goals are not met. As Asian-Americans themselves, they also dive into the idea that hard work will lead to succes...

This week, Sam, Diana & Christie are back together chatting about how working on the podcast together has allowed them to work on their practice of moving away from perfectionism and learning to take a break without feeling the need to apologize. They also discuss APISA-centered movies including Fire Island, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Wong Kar-Wai filmography, sharing their thought...

This week, Christie chats with Nisha Desai and Alice Zhang about founding a startup focused on providing culturally responsive mental health care to communities of color. As two Asian-identified female co-founders, they talk about their own struggles with perfectionism, overcoming cultural differences in their communication, and navigating a white male dominated industry, as well as offer advice f...

This week, Christie chats with Nicole Tang and Kevin Chu about their work with Meals for Unity, a nonprofit uniting communities by working with local chefs, businesses, and volunteers to provide meals to the elderly AAPI community in NYC’s Chinatown. In response to the rise of anti-Asian violence, Nicole and Kevin discuss building relationships with the community, despite language and technologica...

This week, Diana chats with Franklin Shen and Brian Pang about the the power of Asian activism in the workplace. Franklin and Brian share their unique journeys from assimilation to reclaiming their Asian identities to uplifting the greater community. Together, they discuss corporate activism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), as well as the impo...

This week, Diana chats with lifelong activists Pam Tau Lee and Michael Liu about their early experiences organizing within Asian communities starting in the '60s & '70s. They discuss the importance of relationships and collective care in their work, and reflect upon the evolution of activism over the decades, and offer wisdom for young organizers today. Pam Tau Lee is an Asian radica...

This week, Christie chats with Lynn Min, LMHC, about the vulnerability and tension of talking about race and social justice. Lynn shares her background in social justice and how she’s learned to cultivate inner work in pursuit of collective work. Together they discuss learning from our triggers, how energy begets energy, our brains as survival machines, and caring for all of our different selves....