S3E1: Finding the Home Within with Dr. Jenny Wang

Couched in Color

In this opening episode of Season 3 of the “Couched in Color” podcast, Host Dr. Alfiee is joined by guest, Dr. Jenny T. Wang, who has been acknowledged for her “groundbreaking and invaluable” knowledge, presence, and activism for mental health in the Asian American/Immigrant community.

Dr. Wang released a new book in May, 2022, Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans that honors the journey so many felt in isolation, as she guides readers to become empowered by finding their home within.

Dr. Alfiee is passionate about using her podcast to elevate conversations about mental health in diverse communities, bringing in experts like Dr. Wang, thought-leaders, people with lived-experience, celebrities, influencers, and everybody in between!

SHARED PASSION FOR MENTAL HEALTH OF PEOPLE OF COLOR:

Dr. Alfiee: “I just want to say how meaningful it is to me to have us as two women of color sitting here having this conversation about something we’re both passionate about as mental health professionals, psychologists, as people in this space, and that is, the mental health of those of us who identify as people of color–and all the intersectionality that goes with that.”

Dr. Wang: “Thanks for holding space and inviting me to be part of this. I find it so inspiring and empowering to be in conversation with you…and you are my dear friend, too, even though we haven’t known each other super long. I just feel a kindredness.”

“My hope is that people will see that mental health is in everything. It’s not just what you see on TV, or severe diagnosable conditions. It is in the everyday moments and how we live our lives.”

–She shares a fast-growing community of Asian American diaspora (dispora entails the dispersion of any people from their original homeland) and immigrant children through her social media account started on Instagram and her directory of Asian American therapists (links to all are at the end of show notes).

“I think the most powerful part is people would leave comments and say, ‘I thought I was the only one. I thought it was just me.’ And people started realizing there were these shared experiences within our community….Even though there are 45-plus ethnic groups that fall under the Aisan American umbrella, there were these kind of heartstrings that people could kind of feel…The posts put language to the experiences that people had known and felt their entire lives but could not yet put words to.”

Dr. Alfiee: “That’s beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time…that there were so many people out there thinking it was just them.” She calls Dr. Wang’s directory “a unifying force” bringing together clinicians, researchers, people who want care, clients/patients, and a place where everybody can come together.

Dr. Wang: “The directory (Asians for Mental Health) affirmed for a lot of us that we are here, we exist and who is going to help us but ourselves.”

Dr. Alfiee: “Wow, I get chills…In community members coming to do this because there is so much harm that happens in these established systems that people force us to go through to get to do what we love. So as a mental health professional, both of us are doctorate-level psychologists…even though you as Asian American and me as Afro American…there’s this shared experience of being traumatized by these systems.”

More on Dr. Jenny Tzu-Mei Wang, Ph.D.:

A Houston, Texas- based Clinical Psychologist, Speaker, and Author of Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans

Her Mission:

To destigmatize mental health for Asian diaspora (the dispersion of any people from their original homeland) and children of immigrants.

She is a Taiwanese American clinical psychologist and national speaker on Asian American mental health and racial trauma in Asian American, BIPOC, and immigrant communities. Her work focuses on the intersection of Asian American identity, mental health, and social justice. She is the founder of the @asiansformentalhealth Instagram community, in which she discusses the unique experiences of Asian diaspora and immigrant communities. She spearheaded the Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American Therapist Directory and its companion Canadian directory to help Asians seek culturally-relevant mental health providers.

Follow Dr. Wang:

Website: https://www.jennywangphd.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.comasiansformentalhealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asiansformentalhealth

Asians for Mental Health Directory:https://asiansformentalhealth.com

Other Resources:https://linktr.ee/asiansformentalhealth

Follow Dr. Alfiee:

Website: https://dralfiee.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dralfiee

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dralfiee

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralfiee/

Find out more about the AAKOMA Project here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvTKmYKi24I

Season 3 Produced By: https://socialchameleon.us

Continue following the Couched in Color Podcast: https://dralfiee.com/podcast

Music Produced by: Mark “King” Batson (Superproducer of your favorite artists and Grammy award-winner for albums with Eminem and Beyoncé)