How does therapy support Asian American mental health?

Therapy provides a safe space to heal intergenerational trauma, manage career stress, overcome creative blocks, and navigate cultural identity challenges. Services include Brainspotting and EMDR therapy available in Los Angeles, Pasadena, the Bay Area, and across California.

What mental health issues commonly affect Asian American communities?

Common concerns include anxiety, depression, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, family pressures, relationship challenges, and creative blocks. Asian American therapists at Oak and Stone Therapy provide culturally sensitive support using Brainspotting, EMDR, and other healing modalities.

Is culturally sensitive therapy important for BIPOC and children of immigrants?

Yes, culturally sensitive therapy acknowledges racial identity, cultural values, and intergenerational expectations. Our services include Brainspotting and EMDR therapy adapted to the needs of BIPOC and first-generation clients across California.

Who can benefit from Oak and Stone Therapy's blog?

Our blog supports Korean Americans, Taiwanese, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Singaporean, Filipino, and other East and South Asian communities, as well as BIPOC individuals and first-generation Americans seeking emotional growth, resilience, and culturally sensitive therapy options like Brainspotting and EMDR.

When Everyone’s Hurting: Why Your Grief Still Matters

For You

Apr 8

Written By Hatty J. Lee

photo of a black and white flower, representing the grief of losing something beautiful

During times of collective crisis — like the pandemic — it’s easy to compare your pain to others’. You may find yourself dismissing your own emotions with thoughts like:

“Other people have it so much worse.”
“I shouldn’t be upset about this when people are losing everything.”
“I need to be strong — others are depending on me.”

But here's the truth: comparison is the thief of joy — and of grief, healing, and connection.

There Is Room for Your Grief, Too

Many of us hold the belief that if someone else is suffering more, we lose the right to feel our own pain. This scarcity mindset sounds like: “There’s only space for the biggest grief, the loudest crisis.”

But I want to remind you: there is space for your grief and for everyone else’s.
This is not a competition for who has it worst. Grief is not a resource that runs out — it’s an emotional truth that deserves acknowledgment.

The Many Layers of Loss During the Pandemic

Yes — the suffering around us has been real and immense. People have lost their lives. Healthcare workers have been overrun. Loved ones have been isolated in their final moments. Many have faced financial ruin, disconnection, and systemic failure.

But beneath those visible tragedies are quieter losses that are still valid:

Weddings, graduations, and milestones left uncelebrated
Job security or long-planned career transitions derailed
Vacations, community gatherings, and creative dreams postponed
Everyday freedoms like sitting in a café or hugging your loved ones
The safety of routine, predictability, and planning for the future

These too are griefs. And they deserve to be honored.

What Happens When We Minimize Our Pain

When you compare your grief to someone else’s, you don’t make their pain more bearable — you just disconnect from your own. You shut down your emotional process. You invalidate what you’ve lost.

This shows up in therapy often, especially among high-achieving professionals, caregivers, and creatives. People who are used to holding it together. People who believe they should be grateful, resilient, or “already over it.”

But healing doesn’t come from pretending you’re fine.
It begins with permission — to feel, to name, to grieve.

Let Yourself Grieve in Doses

There is no correct timeline. There’s only what your nervous system can safely handle.

Allow yourself to:

Feel the shock in small doses
Name your anger or confusion without justifying it
Receive support without apologizing for needing it
Let someone witness your sadness so it doesn’t stay locked inside

When you let yourself be vulnerable, you create space — not only for your own healing, but for authentic connection with others.

You Don’t Have to Grieve Alone

At Oak and Stone Therapy, we support individuals, couples, and families navigating complex grief, burnout, and emotional overwhelm — especially those who’ve struggled to make room for their own pain.

Whether you’re in Los Angeles, Pasadena, or the Bay Area, our team of Asian American therapists of compassionate, culturally attuned therapists is here to walk with you.

We offer a space that honors your story, your identity, and your healing pace.

Let Connection Not Be Canceled

This season has taken so much from so many. But one thing it doesn’t have to take is your ability to feel connected — to yourself, to your grief, and to those who care.

You are allowed to be in the trenches. You are allowed to grieve.
And you are allowed to begin healing — even if the world hasn’t “gone back to normal.”

image of Asian American and Korean therapist Hatty J. Lee

About the Author

Hatty J. Lee, LMFT #53772 (she/her) is a Korean American marriage and family therapist, Brainspotting practitioner, and founder of Oak and Stone Therapy. With over 15 years of experience in community mental health, schools, and private practice, she provides therapy in person in Los Angeles and Pasadena, and virtually throughout California and Seoul, South Korea. Many of her clients identify as Asian American creatives, including actors, writers, celebrities, and producers in the entertainment industry. She shares mental health insights on her Instagram and is the co-author of The Indwell Guide, a visual storytelling and mental health guide that offers practical tools to support healing and self-discovery.

Asian American TherapyAsian Therapistgrief therapy

Hatty J. Lee

Oak & Stone Therapy is a team of Asian American therapists who offers individual, couples, child and teens, and family therapy virtually across California and in-person in Los Angeles and Pasadena, California.

http://www.oakandstonetherapy.com