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.

Third Culture Kids: Your Therapy Home Here As An Asian

Relationships

Aug 6

Written By Hatty J. Lee

“Where are you from?”

This question again… You’ve been asked this countless times, and still you find yourself pausing to answer. Are you being asked about your ethnicity, where you were born, where you’ve lived the longest (if such a place even exists for you), or just where you’re currently living? Whether you’re a military brat, a missionary kid, a child of diplomats, or whatever else you are, you’ve likely traversed many cultures and had to move plenty of times. You don’t have a succinct answer to where home is. Because you’re a Third Culture Kid (TCK), a TCK who grew up in contexts different than that of your parents. Even though the question “where are you from?” seems so innocent, for you it challenges your sense of identity, belonging, and stability.

So, Where Do You Belong?

You’re a chameleon, attuned to others and skilled at adapting to different contexts. It feels seamless for you to understand where others come from. But that’s often not true in return. Others have a difficult time understanding you (if they understand you at all). It’s exhausting to share your story with someone who may just end up seeing you as a spectacle. Oh, to be seen as normal! To be understood and belong so you wouldn’t need to explain the in-between-ness that you live in. And it’s even more draining to think about educating a therapist just to even get started on unpacking (pun intended) your experiences. Perhaps therapy doesn’t have to be that way.

Therapy with a TCK Therapist

Therapy with me can look like:

 Settling into a space where you’re not too complicated
 Having someone else understand and help you make sense of your experiences
 Learning to accept all parts of you
 Feeling like you don’t have to “choose” a culture to identify with most
 Finding stability and control in a life full of transitions
 Discovering new ways of relating with those around you

Regardless of what you might be bringing you to therapy, I want you to feel like you belong and that you are safe and understood. You might not always know where you’re from. And I cannot guarantee to understand the cultures you carry. But together, we can explore the nuances of who you are so that you can feel more rooted and more at home with yourself.

If this leaves you feeling seen, contact me and we can see if we’d be a good fit to work together.

Read my other blog post on How to Set Healthy Boundaries for Asians who Struggle.

Image of Asian male therapist Samuel Kim, LMFT who is the author of this blog post

About the Author

Samuel Kim, LMFT #141541 is an Asian licensed marriage and family therapist and identifies as a third culture kid (TCK) at Oak and Stone Therapy. He offers online therapy services tailored for individuals and couples across Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and expats living abroad in Asia, Latin America, & Europe. Samuel focuses on supporting adult children of immigrants, third culture kids, and expats navigating cross-cultural contexts, anxiety, imposter syndrome, family of origin traumas, burnout, and relationship challenges for couples.

Asian Therapistthird culture kidsTCK Therapist

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