Mental health practitioners vocalized the importance of culturally informed care at the Asian American Pacific Islander mental health panel on November 3 at UNC Asheville.
“One of the big things I think people should take away from this is the Asian American Pacific Islander group have very different experiences and backgrounds,” said An Truong, a mental health practitioner with Asian heritage.
Truong said, when interacting with the Asian population, people should always be reminded not to make assumptions.
“We might have some threads and cultural norms that tie us together, but in reality, we should remind ourselves of how vast Asia really is. For example, Northern and Southern Vietnam are vastly different, but it’s the same country,” Truong said.
Tai Kulenic, a mental health practitioner with Asian heritage, spoke about the term “model minority” during the panel discussion.
“It’s a responsibility and a burden. There is no model minority. There’s no way anyone could be a model for anything all the time,” Kulenic said.
Kulenic said there is a positive intention of implication behind it, but it is problematic and harmful as well with the obligation to succeed and the deep fear of failure.
“It leads to stereotypes and can put people of color against each other. I think it oversimplifies complex issues like race, class and scrutinization. I also feel like it can lead Asian Americans to feel like they are not individuals,” Kulenic said.
Read more at TheBlueBanner.net.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.