Growing up, it was very difficult for me to speak to my parents about mental health. Everytime, they saw me sad, upset or depressed. They would default to “Oh you will be fine.  Let's go out for dinner. It will make you feel better.” But in reality I wasn't really “ok.” As a therapist, it has been my job to help them understand the importance of mental health. Here, I will talk about 3 tips on how you can speak with your South Asian parents about mental health. 

Multicultural counseling does not provide quick solutions. I understand that in front of me is a unique person with a rich history of cultural interactions. This is their journey toward the fruition of their own identity. This is not just about culture. This is about who they are as a person and whether they are ready, and how to get ready to bring wholeness and self-leadership into their identity. In multicultural counseling, we explore what is a relationship that one wants to develop with their own culture and other cultures? And more importantly, how to get there? I feel honored to be on this journey with many clients. I found the following strategies really helpful to support this personal growth. 

I have never felt so Chinese before I came to the U.S. As a matter of fact, I rarely mentioned the word “Chinese” in my daily life while I was in China–I never had to, given that everyone around me was Chinese. Cultural diversity in the U.S. has given me a chance to reflect on my relationship with my own culture, and more importantly, what is the relationship that I want to develop with my own culture. As a therapist, my experiences with clients tell me that culture plays a significant role in people’s mental wellbeing, especially in U.S. society. In this article, I will share some examples of when culture is at the center of people’s mental struggles.

手心出汗、心跳加速、大脑中却一片空白……很多人在说外语时都有这些紧张不安的表现。尤其是当你忽然被提问，一瞬间无论怎么搜肠刮肚，也找不到合适的词表达。也许你眼前的人正一脸困惑，而你则感到颜面尽失……

对大多数人来说，用母语交流就像吃饭睡觉一样轻而易举，而相比之下，用外语来沟通，真的更费脑子——除了要费尽心思寻找合适的表达方式，还要克服心理上的焦虑。这个焦虑有个专门的词，叫“外语焦虑”（foreign language anxiety，简称FLA)。

Sweaty hands, racing heartbeat, mind going blank, uneasy, nervous, embarrassed… If you speak English as a second language, the above might not sound unfamiliar to you, especially if you are caught on the spot, struggling to figure out what words to use to save your face. Nevertheless, the person in front of you gets more and more confused…

While speaking one's native language seems so natural and easy, trying to command a foreign language requires extra mental resources — finding the right words and calming foreign language anxiety (FLA).