Now Streaming
Asian Racism Panel of Asian Therapists from a Mental Health Perspective
Anti-Asian hate crimes fueled by anti-Asian racism is on the rise. In Vancouver alone, 1 in 2 Asians experienced racism in Vancouver. There was a 98% rise in anti-Asian hate crimes (not including those not reported), which is an 8 fold increase from the previous year. This number is 3 times more than in New York City, which is the highest of any U.S. city
Join the conversation and learn from inside the Asian community and the voices of this panel of Asian psychotherapists and counsellors.
Together we explore Asian racism from a lens of mental health and cultural values.
- Racism from a trauma-informed perspective (and what exactly IS trauma, and why is it so uncomfortable to talk about?)
- What’s happening in our bodies and brains when we have hard conversations around race, or experience racism as a target or bystander.
While the dialogue focuses on an Asian perspective, viewers of every background will be able to glean a broader wisdom from the psychology of what’s happening in our brains neurologically and our bodies in all matters of prejudice and fighting “isms” within ourselves, our relationships, and the world.
Join us as we compassionately and honestly address anti-Asian racism, engage in conversations about cultural identity, and move forward in an empowered, hopeful way.
Watch the whole panel, or Jump directly to your interest:
* [5:00] Why are we having this hard conversation? >>
* [6:40] Themes from Asian conversation circles >>
* [32:39] Trigger warning gentle care >>
* [33:37] Journeying from Avoidance to Advocacy >>
* [39:20] Why is looking at Racism so hard? >> (Neurologically speaking)
* [49:20] Four Movements of Fear >>
* [55:20] What is white supremacy and its impact? >>
* [58:53] How white supremacy impacts different racial groups >>
* [1:00:51] Where Asians are in relationship to white supremacy >>
* [1:02:20] Psychology behind colonization and oppression >>
* [1:04:19] Psychology behind Stereotypes >>
* [1:05:55] Impact and harm of the Model Minority Myth >>
* [1:09:35] Impact and harm of fetishization of Asian women >>
* [1:12:03] Creating a new way forward of awareness >>
* [1:20:49] How to have hard conversations >>
* [1:30:12] How to have intergenerational conversations >>
* [1:40:42] Awakening to advocacy, anti racism and anti-bias work >>
Books
On Demand Education & 1x Sessions
Addressing Racism from the Inside Out, by Intercultural Strategies >>
Bystander Intervention Training, by Hollaback >>
Multi-Week Series
Dialogue on Race Series >>
This series by Dialogue on Race Louisiana is a structured educational process led by a team of trained facilitators. The entire series is based on interactive conversation, where you will explore various aspects of racism from its origin, to its operation, and its impact on society. You prepare for the discussions by reading factual articles before each session.
As a trained facilitator, I was super impressed by how the facilitators set an environment for open, honest, brave conversation starting with an education piece, sharing of experience, and moving toward action.
Indigenous Canada, by University of Alberta >>
Indigenous Canada is an online course from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. Available for audit on Coursera for free.
From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.
Indigenous Canada is for those with an interest in acquiring a basic familiarity with Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationships.
Therapists
Heng-zi Lo Bereczki is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with over fifteen years of experience working with children and their families at all grade levels that carry over into her counselling practice. She has travelled for teaching and humanitarian work.
She is also engaging in therapeutic justice work with racialized clients, particularly those in professional positions of leadership, who are dealing with issues of systemic oppression and internalized racism.
Joyce Jopio is a Registered Clinical Counsellor currently working as a child and family therapist while building her private practice. She has over 20 years working with children, youth, and families and spent 12 of those years as an adoption social worker in Philadelphia, PA and in program development for youth in Camden, NJ.
She works from a trauma informed lens, creating a safe space for her clients. Her passion areas in her work of counselling and therapy include body activism, racial healing, and mental decolonization. She cultivates her practice to centre the intersectional narratives of BIPOC folks experiencing mental and emotional distress.
Born in Central China and raised across Canada from Halifax, to Ottawa, to Vancouver, Yiya identifies as a cross-cultural and trauma informed counsellor serving Asian women.
While running her private practice, she is also passionate to create healing creative spaces, having recently volunteered and set up the Parthenon Community Gallery during covid time to bring local art to the community and art directing a healing retreat space in China.
Journey with Others in a Creative Conversation Circle
Minding the Messy Middle Conversation Circle:
Holding Safe Space to
Address Anti-Asian Hate
Online Live, Real Time Session
For racialized people with lived experience
With the rise of anti-asian hate, are you:
- Feeling unsure what to do with uncomfortable emotions like anxiety, fear, sadness, grief, or anger?
- Struggling with helplessness, frozen with a sense of lack of control?
- Frustrated and hard on yourself because you wish you could speak up more, as a bystander or target of racism?
- Grappling with your racial identity and the weight of Asian stereotypes?
You are not alone.
Recent times are a lot to process. If you are grappling with how to make sense of life as an Asian in this emerging reality, but:
- You don’t know where to begin…
- You don’t know how to do it without toxic positivity bypassing…
- You have been trying to process, but you’re spiralling into an exhausting valley of difficult emotions…
- You don’t know where you can process and share safely, because no one seems to want to talk right now…
Gather in real-time for this highly interactive, guided journey to compassionately and safely explore these challenging times.
We are making room to offer this supportive space for you, the Asian/Pacific Islander/South Asian community to reflect and be present in the messy middle together in solidarity, to create meaningful connections — to ground yourself, to connect with others, and consider our responses in our emerging world.
You’re invited to experience:
Self Advocacy + self compassion
Guided reflection
Honest conversations
Perspective + PUrpose
What Our Community is Saying
Talking about and exploring my own experiences being Asian in this group context was new to me, and it was really encouraging because hearing others’ stories not only helped to validate and affirm, but it also helped me to see what my next steps were towards healthy and intentional living. While there were many experiences that were relatable, no two stories were exactly the same which also helped to expand my awareness.
The session was also a good mix of self-reflection and group engagement with permission to stay in self-reflection mode if that was needed. Justine and Joyce were excellent facilitators and I’m looking forward to continuing this conversation/exploration.
Justine always does a great job in providing a safe and intimate space (even online) that makes people feel comfortable to share their deep feelings. I loved the raw emotions people showed. I felt heard and supported by others, and I was able to do the same for others. The energy felt so genuine. And the journaling questions were really good prompts that helped me reflect and get in touch with my feelings and emotions.
In the past, I would’ve tried to put my experiences into a neat and tidy package. However, life is complicated and through the creative practices during the workshop, I was able to begin to understand that in such a difficult time, there are a lot of struggles – and there also can be a lot of joy. And, this is all okay.