These are a few important issues for our community to address in therapy:

• Feeling Invisible at Work? Are you tired of wondering if your workplace culture truly sees, hears, or cares for your needs and goals?

• Burned Out and Struggling to Advocate for Yourself? Do you feel like you have little decision-making power, despite knowing you’ve worked hard to earn it?

• Perfectionism

• This is an unconscious pattern that can lead to compulsive over-work to “prove our worth”. We will build a better, more authentic sense of being that still honors our parents’ generations’ sacrifices, while carving a new way forward that is rooted in Asian American identity.

• Somatic and Emotional Dysregulation:

• Sometimes we are not aware of our feelings and emotions. We have learned how to move forward for the sake of others. However, symptoms show up over time, including physical ailments that are hard to explain. We will understand how anxiety and stress can be manifested in our bodies, and build awareness of how any belly aches, headaches, digestion issues and low heart rate variability can be tell-tale signs of increased need for care and attention. Here is more of my research using Polyvagal Theory, providing some evidence regarding what mindfulness can do to help: Heart rate variability & mindfulness article-Dr. Trammel

• Communication skills with parents, relatives, and loved ones.

• When many of us have been raised, culturally, to either not have heard, “I love you” we may not be sure how to express care, love, and warmth to others. Being raised in a minimalist emotional family of origin can be a challenge, especially if we are socialized to believe our value and worth is dependent on our achievement. Shame is a powerful motivator, but not the healthiest for our sense of self and dignity. Attachment issues, boundary issues, relational neglect and/or conflict can be patterns affiliated with this type of upbringing.

• Structures, Scripts & Narratives Rooted in Exclusion & Racism:

• Many of us have been disenfranchised from our narratives as Asian Americans.

• Even the term “Asian American” comes from a historical precedent of lumping in different immigration stories of our families and ancestors. Oftentimes, part of the healing process in therapy is to discover and unpack our own story, and to discover where our roots have been planted.

• Have we been trained so much in assimilation that we feel disconnected from ourselves?

  Or do we have a need to plant our roots into a more fertile and rich soil that acknowledges the gifts, power, and wisdom of our cultures? Vicarious and direct trauma can lead to a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, and numbness. Disempowerment can manifest in these feelings and other symptoms. We will move together through stages of healing from victim, to survivor, thriver, and empowered.

• Understanding Attachment Wounds: Causes, Symptoms, and Healing

• There might be emotional injury related to how you you were raised. Were your feelings supported or ignored? Were you exposed to trauma and/or abuse as a child?

• The emotional climate of your home can often promote or disrupt your ways of relating to others, and your attachment style.

• Learning more about the patterns of love and care you received in your family of origin can bring insight into how you relate to others, your community, and/or how you perceive others think or see you.

• Therapy will unearth and also equip you to develop consistent, and healthy communication and relational patterns.

Critical Race Theory as a framework for Healing in Therapy:

Racialized trauma is a growing experience in our communities. We will use mindfulness-based therapies, and other grounding skills (DBT, CBT, Somatic and Guided Imagery) in order to improve regulation of you mood, and to calm the nervous system, so you can make empowering steps forward to thrive. We will also acknowledge and help assess and navigate the structural issues that may also be impeding your mental health wellness, especially in this turbulent political season.

Intersections of Faith and AAPI Identity in Therapy-California and Illinois based therapist:

If you are interested in the integration of Christian faith in understanding intersections of race/ethnicity and religion, I can support that work as well. My research as a professor who trains other therapists is on Christian mindfulness, drawing from my AAPI heritage and identity as well as faith.

Hit the Back to Home Page button on the bottom of this page for my on my approach. You can also visit the About Regina page to learn more about my expertise and credentials. And, see Rates/Pricing. These are a few important issues for our community to address in therapy: