May Newsletter: Winter's coming and we're here to help!

Hello there!

I hope that you've been moving into the cooler months with ease.

If, like me, you find yourself seeking more emotional support during Winter, we have several upcoming workshops which you may be interested in exploring to support your mood, wellbeing and existential distress😉

Scroll to learn more!

❤️ Asami

🌱Upcoming workshops:

For therapists: Develop your culturally-responsive practice at our next professional development session, Connect and Grow on June 8th at 7.00pm AEST.

Learning theme: Transference and Countertransference when working with Asian clients.

💡REGISTER HERE.

For the general public: Improve your mental health and wellbeing at our next FREE Community Check-In (formerly the Shapes and Sounds Club) on June 25th at 7.30pm AEST.

This session is facilitated by our team of Asian Australian psychologists and therapists.

💡REGISTER HERE.

🦉Some interesting mental health info:

📺 The news: If language is your main barrier to having deep conversations with your parents, think again! This second-gen Asian American founder created an app that focuses on translating slang and idiom into different languages.

📚 Academia: Ever wonder what factors influence how people of different cultural upbringings deal with stress and traumatic events? This recent study investigates the links between appraisal mechanisms, cultural upbringing, and PTSD, and suggests that one's construction of selfhood mediates this relationship. 

🎨 The arts: TW: this refers to conversations about sexual assault.

For many of us, the rush of witnessing a show with such rich representation of the East Asian diaspora experience in BEEF was like... a homecoming. Then, a few days later, we learned of actor/artist David Choe's past acts of violence. And then, we witnessed valid calls for BEEF to be cancelled. This chain of events is complex and it's important to allow yourself the time to understand, react and process the many layers to this conversation. 

Importantly, if this recent conversation is causing you distress, please contact the National Sexual Assault 24 hour helpline on 1800 737 732.

🔎 Searching for a therapist?

Connect with our new practitioners below, or forward this email on to someone who may need this!

🎤 Therapist spotlight.

Get to know clinical psychologist, Sophia Tran via our interview HERE:

"...Life goes through seasons - sometimes it’s blossoming and other times it’s resting and restoring, and that’s all okay. Be compassionate with yourself where you are at, and know that things will shift and move in their own time."

✨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 our work HERE.

✍️A journaling prompt for May:

Say no, more.

This year, I've actively been saying "no" to so many things that I used to say "yes" to in the past. And it's interesting to see how much discomfort emerges through setting boundaries to protect my own peace, and how much I feel pulled to either apologise or over-explain myself whenever I say "no". But much like everything else, I've found that saying no is a learnable skill that with practice, becomes easier and easier to say...

✍️What's one thing that you can say "no" to today, to protect your peace?

🐌 And last but not least:

Recently in social media land,

We shared this video about how it's normal to feel worse when you first start going to therapy.

📱Click HERE to connect back in with our instagram!