Beyond the Couch

This week, Sam, Christie, and Diana discuss the Korean reality competition show, Physical 100. They muse about body image in Asian culture and what it takes to participate in extreme athleticism. They also reflect on how refreshing it is to see Asian bodies being represented so differently from their usual portrayal in mainstream Asian-American media.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Physical 100
• Blue Lock
• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/physical-100-netflixs-korean-reality-gauntlet-destroys-misconceptions-rcna71639

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Christie chats with Natalie Hung about healing intergenerational trauma and the power of Internal Family Systems to help us embrace our whole selves. They talk about the different parts of us that can take on “protector” roles in order to help us through hardship or trauma, and the ways in which we can honor those “protectors” instead of denying them as we heal. They also delve into the challenges of sifting through our sense of self as Asian-Americans, and how an IFS lens can not only be restorative, but also lead us into connectedness with others and our lineage.

Natalie Hung (she/hers) is a second-generation Taiwanese American clinical psychologist who specializes in Asian American racialization, intergenerational trauma, complex PTSD and dissociation, intersections between personal and social identities (i.e. race, gender, sexuality, class, ability status), and grief. She uses Internal Family Systems and decolonizing approaches to help her clients to deeply know and love themselves, resist systems of oppression, and cultivate belonging.

Connect with Natalie:

• www.nataliehung.com
• Natalie’s group: Reclaim Asian American Womanhood

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

Today, Sam chats with Stephanie Alirkan about how incorporating breathwork into your day-to-day life and therapy can help you move to a place of calm and feel more grounded in your body. They discuss the benefits of breathwork in regulating emotions, decreasing stress, and lowering anxiety, as well as ways to build upon a breathwork practice and making those small changes that can feel more habitual over time.

Stephanie Alirkan (she/her) is a NYC-based Psychotherapist and Trauma-Informed Certified Breathwork Facilitator. In her work, she takes the approach of healing through the natural processes of the body, breath and senses. She’s passionate about sharing accessible tools that allow us to take flight now vs. sometime in the future, among them being breathwork for deeper embodiment.

Stephanie offers breathwork sessions virtually or in-person for anyone wanting to try outside of therapy and will be hosting themed workshops in 2023 (e.g. breathwork for inner child healing, the pleasure of breathwork). Connect with Stephanie through her website or on Instagram @breathbysteph

Mentioned in this episode:

• Breathwork in Psychotherapy article
• Pause Breathwork
• Open classes

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Christie chats with Minji (a beloved member of the Bridges team) about her experience starting graduate school to become a therapist. In this first installment of the Grad School Diaries mini-series, Minji reflects upon making the difficult decision to change careers, exploring her identity and connection to Korea in therapy, and what surprised her about her first year in a program. 

After nearly a decade in the creative industry, Minji (she/her) is currently a counseling psychology student at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles. She is especially interested in working with Asian, Asian diasporic/immigrant individuals, couples, and families, as well those navigating interracial relationships or other cultural challenges. She loves chatting about all things mental health, career-changing, and dogs (bonus points if poodles), so don’t hesitate to connect with Minji at [email protected]. 

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Sam, Diana and Christie share their unique stories about becoming therapists. They talk about career changes, the experiences that shaped their paths, as well as both the weird and mundane parts of being therapists in private practice. 

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Christie chats with Marianne Ferguson about the common reasons for communication failures in interpersonal relationships and how techniques of nonviolent communication (NVC) can mitigate these conflicts. Marianne shares her learnings from reading about and listening to seminars by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, the psychologist who developed the process of NVC for resolving conflict. They discuss how ego is often the underlying, persistent barrier to connection, and how important it is to lay down our own assumptions in order to truly listen to the other person and get the needs met of all parties involved.

Marianne Ferguson, LCSW, works with individuals going through life transitions whose struggles include relationship issues, anxiety, depression and trauma. Marianne is particularly interested in how social and cultural factors shape our experiences, especially in regards to race, sexuality, gender, religion and other aspects of feeling different. Connect with Marianne here.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Dr. Marshall Rosenberg
• The Center for Nonviolent Communication

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Sam chats with Anjali about how she incorporates dreamwork in her practice and the importance of seeing people as a sum of all of their parts. Anjali dives into how powerful it can be to use dreams and the imagery we recall from them as vehicles for conversation and deeper understanding of oneself and one another. They discuss how, especially in interpersonal relationships, being aware of all of the versions of ourselves can help mitigate conflict or unhealthy cycles. Anjali also shares some of the exercises that she uses to help her clients have a more vibrant relationship to their dreams.

Anjali Menon (she/they), LMSW, is an individual, couples, and family psychotherapist, whose work centers joy, laughter, pleasure, and play. Anjali helps folks navigate life transitions, release patterns that keep them feeling stuck, and build a deep and rewarding sense of self-reflection and compassion. Connect with Anjali at [email protected]

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Christie, Sam, and Diana get together and talk about the meaning behind the Year of the Water Rabbit and how its foretelling of rest, thoughtfulness, and creativity resonates with them. They muse about their own zodiac signs and think back to how each of them celebrated and related to Lunar New Year growing up. Christie shares what she learned from getting her aura read, and Sam recalls the time she pulled the worst luck fortune at a Japanese shrine. They also announce a new way they’ve decided to approach the podcast episodes!

Mentioned in this episode:

• Alexander Bragg’s Year of the Rabbit Forecast

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

This week, Christie chats with Kim about the challenges that therapists themselves face when seeking mental health support. They discuss how difficult it can be to take their own advice about self-care and processing their emotions that they give to their clients. Kim shares how working through her own journey as a Korean adoptee has given her the courage to face vulnerabilities, embrace the unknown, and heal old wounds. They also discuss the importance of community when facing personal challenges.

Kim (she/her) is a licensed social worker who identifies as Korean American. She provides psychotherapy in non-profit and private practice settings to encourage and help others find their voice.

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh

Happy 2023! This week, Diana welcomes back Alena Kwong, LMSW, to discuss different forms of holistic healing and wellness. As a holistic healer herself, Alena shares how her former career as a pastry chef led her down a path toward wellness including reiki, nutritional counseling, and yoga. Together, Alena and Diana discuss the messiness of cultivating a wellness practice and being gentle with yourself through the process. Additionally, Alena gives a peak into her own wellness routines, and offers resources for those interested in deepening their own practices.

Alena Kwong, LMSW, (she/her) is a psychotherapist/licensed social worker with a background in holistic nutrition and wellness. She is also a certified yoga practitioner and Reiki Master. Her approach includes mindfulness and somatic based wellness tools for stress reduction and emotional regulation. Connect with Alena on Instagram @inspiredliving.by.alena or via email at [email protected]

Mentioned in this episode:

• Dr. Mark Hyman - The Doctor’s Farmacy Podcast
• Mayo Clinic Guide to Integrative Medicine
• Own Your Self by Kelly Brogan, MD
• Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith
• Resources for professionals: 
  • Southwest Institute of Healing Arts
  • Integrative Institute of Nutrition
  • MindbodyGreen Functional Nutrition Training
  • E-Cornell Wellness Counseling Certificate Program
  • PESI Integrative Mental Health Provider Course

 
Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
Find a Therapist
Join our Clinician Community

Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.
@bridgesmentalhealth
[email protected]
buymeacoffee.com/bridgesmh