March Organisational Newsletter: How can we actually improve culturally-responsive care?

March: How can we actually improve culturally-responsive care?

Hello!

At Shapes and Sounds, we’re a little tired of the mainstream approach to culturally responsive practice; the one that simply reminds practitioners to “be respectful of all cultures.”

Respect, empathy, and compassion are already at the heart of your work. But when cultural-competency trainings stop at “respect,” it feels shallow; missing the real, practical strategies needed to support diverse communities effectively.

That’s why we’ve created our cultural-competency training that goes beyond the basics. Our sessions offer clear, actionable insights to help you better understand and engage with the Asian community.

We’ll cover the various cultural groups here in Australia, the impact of different migration journeys on mental health, and, most importantly, how you can improve outcomes for the people you work with.

If this resonates with you, join us for our first public cultural-competency training on March 11th at 4:00 PM AEDT, online. You can register here!

Cheers,
Asami

PS. The City of Melbourne invited me to talk about these trainings on their new podcast, you can check out a snippet here!

🌱 Important dates and festivals this month

• 27 Feb- 29 March: Ramadan. The holy month of Ramadan is the 9th month in the Islamic lunar calendar where those who participate, fast between sunrise and sunset each day.
• 8 March: International Women's day. International Women's day is the annual celebration of all the achievements from women worldwide. 
• 14 March: Holi. Known as the Festival of Colors, Holi is a celebration to welcome Spring and is seen as a new beginning. 
• 18-24 March: Harmony week. Celebrate the incredible diversity of our multicultural nation during Harmony week this year!
• 30 March: Ugadi (Telugu New Year). Ugadi is the new year according to the Hindu calendar.  
• 30-31 March: Eid al Fitr. Eid is the celebration at the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. 

How will your organisation be marking these important dates this month? Feel free to reach out to us if you'd like some ideas!

Check out other community events here! 

🦉 Research perspectives to strengthen your culturally-responsive practice:

Within their cross-sectional study, Jobson et al. (2023) suggests that different cultures may find different forms of social support more beneficial following trauma exposure. They also found cultural differences in the relationship between various forms of social support (explicit vs implicit, mutual vs non-mutual) and PTSD symptoms.

These findings lend support to the importance of incorporating culture when considering the potential benefits (and risks) of various forms of social support during PTSD recovery. 

What does this mean for clinicians and the community? 
This research suggests it may be crucial for practitioners to reconsider how their own biases are at play when recommending various forms of social support. For example, though explicit solicitation of social support is often deemed positive for posttraumatic recovery, this may not be the case for Asian clients.  Remaining curious and responsive to the ways which cultural beliefs influence the types of and tendencies for social support seeking may improve therapeutic relationships and outcomes. 

Reflective prompt: What do you personally find as the most helpful aspect of social support (e.g., active disclosure, emotional support, tangible problem solving etc.)? Can you think of ways that this may be influenced by your cultural upbringing? 

You're welcome to reach out to us by replying to this email, if you'd like some perspective on this.

✨Online training now available.

In partnership with Monash University’s Culture, Trauma and Mental Health research lab.

At Shapes and Sounds, we’re the leading voice in Asian mental health in Australia. We bridge the gap between the Asian community and the mental health sector, offering training that blends real community insights with the latest evidence-based frameworks.

Online PD: Tuesday March 11th at 4.00pm - 5.15pm AEDT.

We invite all mental health practitioners of all cultural identities to join us for our open training session, "Addressing stigma in Asian communities" to learn tangible strategies to implement in your work.

Limited spots available, please find all details here.

💡Build your team's cultural-competency in 2025.

In addition to our online public trainings, we can work closely with your organisation to address your team's questions and needs.

In 2024, organisations like headspace Syndal and The Australasian Genetic Counsellors Society saw improved team understanding and new strategies for delivering better services to Asian clients.

This option is extremely suitable for organisations based in areas with a high Asian population.

Ready to learn more? Download our info and pricing pack today to find out how we can help your team make a real impact.

🔎 Connect with our new therapists.

Our Asian Australian mental health practitioner list introduces you to private practitioners who are skilled in supporting the Asian community's mental health needs.

Our private practitioners are available for referrals. Please contact them directly via their profile.

✨Thank you for reading up to this point!

We rely heavily on your generous support to provide ongoing and free mental health resources to Asian communities in Australia.

Support Shapes and Sounds HERE.

Creative Community Care!

Do you work with international students from Asia, currently studying in Victoria?

If so, you may be able to refer them to our Creative Arts Therapy workshops, starting on Tuesday March 25th in partnership with La Trobe University and the Victorian Department of Health.

🐌 And last but not least:

Recently on Linkedin,

We shared our practitioner interview with clinical psychologist, Song Nguyen. Click here to read our full interview with her!