黑料吃瓜

鈥淲e are making real, intentional efforts to be more inclusive in the offerings that we have.鈥�

Angel-Lynna Tran grew up in Stockton, California, raised by a single mother in a traditional Vietnamese American household. On the surface, hers was a story of success. She excelled in school and became a first-generation college student upon her acceptance to 黑料吃瓜.

What others couldn鈥檛 see 鈥� and what Tran herself couldn鈥檛 identify or address until years later 鈥� is that she was battling depression and anxiety.

鈥淐oming from an Asian community, we didn鈥檛 talk about mental health and we didn鈥檛 talk about feelings,鈥� said Tran, a 2021 graduate of 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 (MFT) master鈥檚 program who now works as a school-based therapist.

鈥淵ou go to school, you get your work done and, as long as you get good grades, your parents are happy,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 knew there was something I was struggling with, but I didn鈥檛 know how to name it.鈥�

It鈥檚 a dynamic that resonates with MFT graduate student Ayuja Dixit, who was raised by Indian immigrants in an affluent Los Angeles suburb.

鈥淭herapy was not seen as helpful or medicinal 鈥� it was seen like, 鈥極h my gosh something must be really, really wrong with you,鈥欌�� Dixit recalled. 鈥淎 very strong piece was being a so-called 鈥榤odel minority.鈥� You cannot show that there is anything wrong with the family.鈥�

In many communities of color across the U.S., an aversion to therapy 鈥� or even discussing mental health issues 鈥� is a common thread. The reasons are many, including: cultural stigmas, lack of access, exclusion and ethnocentrism within the psychotherapy field itself.

黑料吃瓜鈥檚 MFT program, which trains professionals to provide therapeutic services to couples, families, groups and individuals, is working to change that.

鈥淭he face of therapy is shifting,鈥� said Sesen Negash, associate professor in counseling and school psychology and director of the MFT program. 鈥淲e are making real, intentional efforts to be more inclusive in the offerings that we have 鈥� not just in terms of services or interventions but also the folks that are offering the therapy in the first place.鈥�

Cultural responsiveness

A big part of that effort is the program鈥檚 focus on culturally responsive practices: instilling curiosity and openness in future therapists, but also an understanding that their clients鈥� social, cultural, political and economic contexts matter a great deal.

Therapists who approach diverse clients with a Eurocentric or one-size-fits-all approach can often do more harm than good. Cultural differences can be viewed as abnormalities or, worse yet, psychological deficits.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy to pathologize what one does not understand,鈥� Negash said. 鈥淧eople go in and feel not heard, but also judged, misdiagnosed and labeled.鈥�

黑料吃瓜鈥檚 program is also making strides in bringing more racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity to the profession itself. More than 75% of 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 MFT students are people of color, and Negash estimates more than half of the trainees in her 30-student cohort speak languages other than English, the most common being Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Korean and Chinese.

鈥淗aving participated in programs both as faculty and as a student, I鈥檝e never seen the numbers that we have,鈥� said Negash, who credits MFT鈥檚 diversity on location and affordability (黑料吃瓜 is the only public institution in San Diego with an accredited program).

鈥淥ther programs strive for diversity, but I think our program really exemplifies it.鈥�

Changing the narrative

Dixit and Tran seem happy to be its exemplars. In fact, it鈥檚 a big part of their motivation.

Dixit, who identifies as queer and nonbinary, said they were deeply affected as a child by a family member鈥檚 mental illness, but never had an outlet within the Indian American community to talk about it or address it.

鈥淭hings couldn鈥檛 be talked about,鈥� they said. 鈥淭hat definitely led me to wanting to open up a space where people felt comfortable in my community. I think one of the biggest shifts I see is kids wanting to come out to their parents as part of the LGBTQ community. I see myself supporting them because it is so taboo in our culture.鈥�

Now serving students at Mount Miguel High School in the diverse San Diego County community of Lemon Grove, Tran goes to work every day with one goal in mind: to be the therapist she wishes she had back in Stockton.

鈥淚鈥檓 motivated to make people know that they are important and that they are deserving,鈥� Tran said. 鈥淣o matter what you look like or how you identify, you are still deserving of the respect and care that this world should be able to provide. I want to be that person who shows them that.

鈥淚 want to change that narrative.鈥�