Is Therapy Made for Asian Americans? Anise Health Is

Mixed Asian Media - October 12, 2022

By Bryce Jacobson, Psy.D.

When asked to define “culture,” many of us readily understand it as being part of specific racial and ethnic groups. Though this certainly can account for many aspects of one’s cultural identity, it should be thought of more broadly — encompassing social customs, beliefs, values, attitudes, expectations, symbols, and social practices. All of these things influence how we view, experience, and are experienced by the world around us, including how we understand mental health and healing. As such, culture has a vital, and often overlooked role, within psychotherapy. While some facets of our cultural identity may catapult us into positions of privilege, others may handicap, especially the further they are from “white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied, and cisgender America” — for whom much of contemporary psychotherapy has, coincidentally, been built for, as its foundations are rooted in Western psychology. Indeed, many of those who do not fall into the dominant culture’s box are often left feeling unseen when seeking psychotherapy, if they are to seek it at all.

While this is an issue that impacts all minorities in the United States, the AAPI community is particularly reluctant to seek out mental health services (half as likely as its white counterpart). If treatment is sought, it’s at an increased risk of terminating therapy prematurely. This, in part, is due to a number of factors, including cultural values and beliefs held by the AAPI community (such as mental health stigma), limited psychological research on Asian Americans, and minimal multicultural training for clinicians. In addition, individuals of biracial identity may face the added burden of navigating two (or more) unique cultures with differing values, beliefs, customs, and languages — which may partially underpin why those of biracial identity are more likely to be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder than their monoracial Asian American peers. In recognition of these disparities, Anise Health — a culturally informed mental health and wellbeing platform — aims to provide comprehensive and tailored treatment to the AAPI community by employing culturally responsive psychotherapists who actively acknowledge our unique, intersecting identities, allowing greater opportunity to be heard and validated and ushering in potential for more meaningful change and healing.

As a biracial clinical psychologist myself, my understanding of “culture” and how it informs my practice is an ever-evolving process in which I reject the belief that I could ever be “competent” in culture — a previously long held belief for many clinicians. Instead, I continually strive to tread with humility, approaching each individual client with an understanding that I must abandon my preconceived notions and make a genuine attempt to perceive the world through their eyes. However, I acknowledge the importance of evidence-based treatment and function within a framework that considers a broad range of influences and how they weigh on behaviors. Through this lens, I am not only challenged to consider all of my clients’ intersecting identities but am asked to acknowledge my own identity and how that may interplay with each individual. Though I believe in the importance of maintaining a vigilant understanding of current research, there are a multitude of influences and individual differences that synergize to create a fully realized and unique identity for each and every one of my clients. To be able to even attempt to understand means to maintain an open and empathetic stance, loosely informed by research, but free from hard-lined assumptions and colored by the commitment to continually develop a broader and more empathetic view of what it is to be human.

Dr. Bryce Jacobson, a clinical neuropsychologist, is a half Chinese Singaporean from Seattle, Washington, currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. He received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Pepperdine University and a doctorate from Loma Linda University, completing his internship and fellowship training at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center/Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, respectively. When not delivering patient care, he can usually be found eating, traveling, or playing video games.