Healing the Tigress: An AAPI Maternal Mental Health Podcast

The episode today explores two big themes we haven't touched upon yet on this podcast-- being child-free by choice and then the journey of adoption. Our guest today is Katy Wang, a Taiwanese American early childhood educator for the past 15 years in both private and independent schools all over the Bay Area. Katy has held a variety of positions--everything from an assistant teacher to teacher to site director to program director to now assistant principal.

Katy and her husband fondly call themselves a PANK (Professional Auntie No Kids) and a PUNK (Professional Uncle No Kids), and they love on so many of their friends' children by taking them on fun outings, dinner dates, shopping trips, and more. Katy is definitely the epitome of "fun aunt." But what's unique about Katy's journey that we will explore together in this episode is that even though Katy adores children and works with them day in and out, she had initially wanted to be child-free for a long time due to mental health reasons. Then, not too long ago, she decided to pursue adoption and embark on the parenthood journey with her husband.

We unpack the reasons Katy had for being child-free by choice for a long time and then the reasons for choosing adoption when she and her husband decided to pursue parenthood in the end. Katy shares with us her personal experience of clinical depression and why it had affected her so deeply. She also openly shares with us in detail what the adoption process has been like so far (financially, emotionally, logistically) and how her family has responded to her choices.

Katy is still in the middle of her adoption process, so we have been given a unique perspective and snapshot of this time in her journey before she and her husband are hopefully matched with a baby. We hope this is an episode that might be helpful for anyone who is curious or considering adoption in the U.S., as there are so many factors to consider!

If you're interested in learning more, Katy may be posting more about their journey in the future at a family IG account: @hellochoi.fam

We hope we may be able to record a future episode with Katy from the other side of her adoption process!

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

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✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

In honor of Veterans’ Day this month, we wanted to highlight a motherhood journey of a veteran who not only served her country but also now serves the needs of so many mothers in their postpartum period.

Our guest today is none other than Stephiney Foley, CEO and Founder of Yuzi Care. She is a postpartum doula, army veteran, military spouse, West Point Grad, and mother of two biracial boys.

Stephiney is first generation Chinese American, born in Shanghai and raised in New York City. She served in the U.S. Army for over a decade as a logistics officer. Stephiney experienced postpartum anxiety after her first child and then postpartum depression after her second child. In this episode she tells us her story and journey of motherhood from the military to working at Amazon to launching and creating a postnatal retreat center to support postpartum mothers. 

We talk about how it actually took a long time before Stephiney realized she needed help and then even longer to actually get the help she needed. Stephiney recalls the key moment when she knew she wasn’t okay and shares with us how medication and therapy later on would be crucial to her healing. (TW: We do discuss suicidal thoughts briefly.) 

Stephiney also shares with us the inspiration behind postnatal retreats like her own and also what she envisions it can grow to become to care for more mothers. We discuss the issues of costs and barriers to getting all moms the right kind of care in postpartum. Please join us for this insightful discussion about what would be some potential ideal ways to care for the mother during her fourth trimester in postpartum.

Find more of Stephiney at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/yuzicare
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/96649640
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuzicare/
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/yuzicare
Website: www.yuzicare.com

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

For this next episode, we were so excited to interview Susan Lieu, the Vietnamese American author of the moving memoir The Manicurist's Daughter. This debut memoir has been featured not only on Apple but in the New York Times, NPR books, Elle Magazine, LA Times, and the Washington Post.

We talk with Susan about how losing her mother at a young age (11) was such a pivotal event in her life, that everything going forward went through the sieve of her mother's death, especially while she was becoming a mother herself. We discuss the impact of her mother's death from a botched tummy tuck and how that further exacerbated body image issues and conflicting relationship with food that Susan always grew up with.

Susan shares with us how no one talked about her mother's death in the family after it happened, even to this day. As the youngest of 4, she said she was always shut down when she wanted to hear more details about her mother's death, so she had no one to turn to when trying to learn more about her mother.

The conversation is rich with themes of grief, motherhood, body positivity, and mental health. We talk about many parts of the Asian American experience as a child of immigrants/refugees and break down how Susan did the work to heal from generational trauma before being ready to become a mom--particularly also chasing her dreams of being a performer first. We know this episode will resonate with many who are navigating relationships with their parents as they become parents themselves and who are trying to heal their inner child. Please join us for this riveting conversation!

Besides being an author, Susan is also a playwright, a performer, a TEDx speaker, a podcaster, and a cofounder of Socola Chocolatier. She has a degree in Social Studies from Harvard College and an MBA from Yale School of Management. You can find more of Susan at:

Instagram: @susanlieu, @celadonbooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanlieuofficial
TikTok: @susanlieuofficial
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlieu/
Podcast: Model Minority Moms-- https://modelminoritymoms.com/
Website: https://www.susanlieu.me/

TedEx Talk: Making Peace With Your Belly Fat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=al0Jw_9b06Y


Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Trigger Warning: We will be discussing pregnancy loss in this episode.

In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Month, we wanted to share the story of our next guest, Eileen Santos Rosete. Eileen is Filipino American and it's fitting she is our guest this month too, as October is also Filipino American History Month. She holds a master of science in marriage and family therapy, is certified as a DONA International postpartum doula, trauma-informed yoga teacher and grief educator. 

Her brand, Our Sacred Woman, is known for its elevated offerings that help women feel seen, held, and honored. Her debut book is titled “To Tend & To Hold: Honoring Our Bodies, Our Needs and Our Grief Through Pregnancy and Infant Loss,” which just launched today!

In this episode, Eileen shares her story of suffering two losses following the birth of her first child. She explains the nuances of grief in her personal story and how each of the losses were different, how she was supported or not in both cases, and how she came to realize that while losing her babies, she was actually in labor and delivering them too.

We talk about how the losses also impacted her future pregnancies and subsequent living babies, and we also talk about her experience with postpartum depression and anxiety. We also talk about how being a person of color played a role in her journey. Eileen gives us a raw and vulnerable discussion about loss and how the healing journey looked for her, as well as the new resource on loss that she has created for new mothers to come. 

Find more of Eileen at:
Website: https://www.eileensantosrosete.com/
Instagram: @oursacredwomen
Book Preorder Links: https://www.eileensantosrosete.com/to-tend-and-to-hold-book

Other Resources:
Free PSI Online Support Groups for Loss: https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/?_search=loss

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Today's guest has a personal story behind it, and we're very honored to have on Sia Clyde, an influential mommy fitness blogger and NASM-certified personal trainer!

When Jasmine (one of our show's co-hosts) was in the depths of her postpartum depression and insomnia, her husband sent her an email late one night with some blog posts talking about postpartum depression and medications. At the time, Jasmine was really worried about started antidepressants, even as a pharmacist. But reading some of these blogs at 4am one night was helpful, and the one that stood out the most to her was Sia's blog post--largely due to the fact that Sia was the only one who looked remotely Asian American and was also previously a nurse.

So, 5 years later, it's been very full circle for Jasmine to have a chance to interview Sia on our podcast for Asian American maternal mental health! Sia shares with us that she is a quarter Korean American, but somehow that quarter went a long way for Jasmine! Representation truly does matter.

In our interview, we discuss Sia's journey from nursing to becoming a mom to becoming a NASM-certified personal trainer. She tells us about her journeys with postpartum depression with her first and second child and how she used medications and therapy to heal. We talk in depth about how Sia used antidepressants during pregnancy and post-pregnancy, as well as the stigma of medications. Sia also openly shares that at first she wasn't sure about therapy and opted to do medications first. But later, she realized how powerful therapy was for her and has been doing it ever since 5 months postpartum with her daughter.

Currently, Sia is pregnant with her third child and still taking steps to protect her mental health during this pregnancy. We hope that this episode will help other moms remember that taking medications is not a weakness and that it can be a helpful tool in getting through postpartum depression.

Resources:
Podcast Episode referenced: Episode 17: Debunking Myths About Perinatal Psychiatric Medications with Dr. Niya Dhand, MD
Sia's Blog Post that Jasmine read: https://diaryofafitmommy.com/the-brutal-truth-about-postpartum-depression/

Find more of Sia:
Instagram: @diaryofafitmommyofficial
Blog: https://diaryofafitmommy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiaryofaFitMommy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thesiabia1

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Maternal suicide is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the U.S. and up to 20% of maternal deaths are due to suicide. People of color are more likely to report suicidal ideation in the immediate postpartum period as compared to their white counterparts, with Asian women cited as 9x more likely.

Yet, we don't hear about the stories as much. This is why it is so important to continue the conversation about maternal suicide. For the month of September, we like to honor National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month with an episode on this difficult but crucial topic.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode will discuss maternal suicide, which may be difficult or distressing for some of our listeners. Your mental health matters and we fully support doing what you need to do to take care of yourself. This space will be here if you ever wish to come back at a different time to listen.

Last year, our most listened to episode by far was Episode 2-Break the Stigma for Nima: A Conversation on Maternal Suicide with Priya Bhakta and we were blown away that people were open to listening to a hard topic and conversation. So this year, we have with us Deven Bhakta, the late Nima Bhakta's husband, to tell his side of the journey.

Nima Bhakta was a South Asian mother lost to maternal suicide on July 24, 2020 after suffering from postpartum depression. Her legacy lives on as her family chose to talk publicly about her story and call it what it was--suicide--in hopes of helping other families out there who may be going through similar struggles. And her story has saved lives, within mere hours of sharing her story. 

In AAPI communities, the topic of suicide can be so taboo, but this generation of parents is realizing that the stigma of mental health illness and seeking help for it is more harmful than helpful. Deven reflects with us about some of the signs that may have been red flags and how Indian American families can be both blessings and curses. We talk about how he has coped and healed from the loss of Nima as well as other family members in his life during the same year. 

Deven talks about finding his way to therapy and how he continues to heal and raise their little boy. He discusses what they do each year to honor Nima's legacy and raise awareness and funds to donate to organizations focused on supporting maternal mental health and AAPI mental health. 

For more information and to connect with Nima's story:

• Episode 2 with Nima's sister, Priya Bhakta
• Instagram: @breakthestigma4nima

Resources (call or text):

• National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:  988 
• National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-852-626 (833-TLC-MAMA)
• Postpartum Support International Hotline: 1-800-944-4773

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. 

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

One of the things we really wanted to make sure to do on Healing the Tigress was to be as inclusive as possible of all our AAPI folks’ stories. And that also means we want to make sure to highlight stories of AAPI LGBTQ+ parents and their mental health as well. 

For our first guest of this season, we were very excited to have the popular wedding and elopement photographer and former cardiac ICU RN, Henry Tieu (@henrysdiary), to talk about his journey with IVF/international surrogacy with his partner to bring home their twin babies this year! We discuss the challenges and benefits of international surrogacy, the financial investment especially as self-employed fathers, the emotional toll of going through not one but two rounds of IVF and surrogates, and more.

We talk about the importance of representation--both from the AAPI community and LGBTQ+ community. We discuss the need for more resources and inclusivity in society's set up and language for our LGBTQ+ couples to becoming parents. Henry also talks about how being authentic and true to self was really important for his mental health, especially when sharing on social media about his sexuality and announcing about his children.

We loved this heartfelt episode and discussion to bring more awareness to the journey of parenthood for same sex couples. We're also huge fans of Henry's photography so make sure you check him out online too!

Find more of Henry at:
www.instagram.com/henrysdiary

Resources:
PSI Queer & Trans Parent Support Group: https://www.postpartum.net/group/queer-trans-parent-support-group/


Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

We are baaack!! We can't believe we're in a second season of Healing the Tigress and we truly have you, the listeners, to thank!

In this opening episode for the season, Jasmine and Peggy catch everyone up with what Peggy has been up to over the summer break--including passing her own PMH-C (perinatal mental health certification) test. So now, we have TWO PMH-C clinicians co-hosting this podcast! And the bigger news to share is that Peggy decided to start pursuing private practice as a therapist again, specifically as a perinatal mental health therapist!

We talk about what sparked the big career shift for Peggy back into therapy. We also reflect on the last season as well as tease what's to come in this next season!
Last but not least, we share our hopes for how Healing the Tigress will grow, AND we announced our Patreon!

A few supporters had asked us to create one in efforts to support us more. So we came up with ways we could put together this Patreon to give back even more to our wonderful listeners and build a community of healing AAPI parents. Inside the Patreon, we'll have ways you can help shape Healing the Tigress and join a community. There will also be other bonuses like extra exclusive episodes in the future or episode sneak peeks. Check it out below! 

[Update 2025: We will be sunsetting the Patreon, but check out a new way to support us and get more bonus episodes below!]

Links and References Mentioned:

• Peggy's Private Practice
• Emilie Chuong Photography

Special thanks again to Dr. Tony Huynh (IG @toneymixes) for sound mixing our intro and outro!
Intro music played by Peggy, cover of "You and Me" by Zee Avi
Outro music played by Jasmine's sister, cover of "Green Island Serenade"
Watercolor tigers painted by Dr. Angela Cheung

Send us your thoughts!

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

For our season finale, we are joined by the wonderful Dr. Kalena Kaopuuokalani Lanuza, who is a doctorally prepared Certified Family and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Certified Lactation Counselor. She specializes in reproductive psychiatric mental health and cares for Native Hawaiian and Pasifika wāhine (women) in Hawai'i and throughout the diaspora in Washington, Oregon and California.

Dr. Kalena opens up to us in this episode about her own journey to becoming a mother, after years of being an NICU nurse, only to discover the difficulties of postpartum anxiety and postpartum OCD. This pushed her into her current work, where she is able to provide perinatal support for other makuahine, or mothers, especially kanaka maoli or Native Hawaiians--like herself.

She graciously shares with us about the history of oppression and colonialism in the islands of Hawai'i and how this generational trauma plays a huge role in the perinatal care of many Native Hawaiian and Pasifika women, whether in Hawai'i or on the mainland. We learn about the importance of cultural congruency especially in perinatal mental health care, how to both honor and understand where we come from and how it plays a role in our current mental health.

This rich episode also teaches us how to be respectful stewards of the lands we live on, remembering the history of those before us and what was lost, from both a physical home to erasure of language and culture.

Find more of Dr. Kalena at:

• Mana Mental Health
• Instagram: @mana_mental_Health

Resources from this episode:

• Kalauokekahuli: https://www.kalauokekahuli.org/
• Pale wāhine & La'au Lapa'au: Pua O Eleili Pinto of Ēwe 'Oia'i'o: IG @eweoiaio 
• Perinatal Nutrition:  Ke'alohi Naipo of Naipo Nutrition: https://kealohi-naipo.mykajabi.com/
• Northern CA: Mana Pasifika: https://www.sisterweb.org/mana-pasefika
• Washington: Pilimakua Family Connections: https://www.hummingbird-ifs.org/programs/pilimakua
• Washington: Pacific Islander Health Board of Washington: Doula's/ lactation/ pregnancy support groups

This episode is dedicated to Jasmine Del Mar. A hui hou. We miss you.

Special thank you to Dr. Tony Huynh, PharmD for helping us sound mix our introduction dedication. You can find him on Instagram @toneymixes.

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much!

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

For Father's Day and Men's Mental Health Month, we wanted to get another AAPI dad on the show to talk about their experience in fatherhood in relationship to mental health. 

Joining us for this episode is Dr. Matt Dinh, PharmD, who is a Vietnamese American father of two and a pharmacist by trade. Matt talks to us about how his wife did not experience any postpartum mental health disorders, but he himself started experiencing some mild depression when his eldest child was in some challenging toddler years.

When some of these feelings of self-doubt and questions about his worth started affecting the relationships with people that he loved, Matt realized he needed to look for help. We talk about Matt's experience with therapy and what things have helped him improve his mental health over time. Matt tells us how by sharing his experience, no matter how brief, he was also able to inspire other family members to potentially look into therapy too. 

It's likely underreported, but 1 in 10 dads actually can experience postpartum depression too. We discuss how entering fatherhood really was the catalyst for Matt to truly see the importance of addressing mental health. In AAPI communities, mental health is already a hard enough topic to bring up, but especially for AAPI males and dads, being able to admit needing help seems to be even more difficult. 

It also seems this generation of AAPI males and dads are starting to take charge of their mental health more. Matt's conversation goes over how parenting forces everyone to start looking closely at themselves and how we want and need to show up for our kids. We hope that this episode helps others see that men also are affected during the postpartum period and perhaps start conversations for others to check in with their dad friends and offer support too.

Find Matt at Instagram: @maddenstyles

Resources:

Free PSI Dad Support Group: https://www.postpartum.net/group/dad-support-group/

Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.

Please RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much!

Send us your thoughts!

Support the show

✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)