Thanksgiving holiday always has a special place in the hearts of UCA family, because we have so much to be thankful for.
Whether it is the record-breaking 2022 Chinese American Convention, or our first Chinese American Youth Convention, or the downfall of the China Initiative, or our continued fight for fair treatment of Anming Hu, Feng Tao and many other Chinese American scientists; or the latest exciting news that Sherry Chen finally won a historic settlement with the Federal government, a rare milestone, or the welcoming of new UCA-Arizona chapter and UCA Southwest Florida chapter, or the fast expanding of our WAVES program across the country, or the successful launching of UCA Community Fund, or the establishment of UCA Action and UCA PAC, two powerful tools allowing our community to engage deeper in the political process, your abundant support for and belief in UCA and its vision have sustained and lifted us all.
We achieved so much together in 2022 by following our motto of serve, lead, inspire. We are working hard for another bumper year of harvest, so to speak, in 2023. At UCA, we are a close knit family of great friends thankful for the lasting friendship. Let us make history together, again! Join UCA by becoming a member or renewing your membership https://ucausa.org/join-uca/, or by planning a year-end gift of donation to UCA https://ucausa.org/uca-2022-holiday-fundraising/.
Although we cannot gather in person for this holiday, we are connecting and embracing each other in spirit and prayers!
If the husband-wife relationship in the case is replaced by a parent-child relationship, “being forced to drink milk” is replaced by “going to the cram school/extracurricular activities “, “report card grades that must be achieved”, “Universities that should be admitted to”… Aren’t we familiar with such scenes?
Case 2
The mother was very angry because the child missed a class, thinking that the child would make up the work for it quickly, but when she came home, she found that the child not only failed to make up the homework, but also made a mess in the kitchen. But the child just wanted to make a bowl of “ugly” noodles for the mother. The mother immediately became furious and scolded the child. As a result, the child ignored his mother for a week.
Is this mother wrong for caring about her child’s homework?
The ancients said: ” One man’s meat is another man’s poison. ” When we try our best to “love” our family members, have we ever thought that the “love” we give may be a shackle, an order, a control, or even a threat, or a poison in the eyes of the other party…
The well-known psychological counselor Mrs. Fang Qi was specially invited by the North-South Carolina Chinese Community Service Center (CCACC) and the Mental Health Project Team of the United Chinese American Association (UCA Waves). Starting from October 27th, a series of online courses “Love does not have to kill each other – five expressions of love” have been opened for everyone, using five lessons to “crack the code of love”.
欢迎学员们扫码加入以下的”心理成长自助营“，分享自己的实践过程和反馈，共同成长。
Students are welcome to scan the QR code to join the following “Psychological Growth Self-help Camp”, share their practice process and feedback, and grow together.
To love a person, you must love in the way they like, not in the way you like or think they like, otherwise it will be the opposite, and love will become hurtful instead.
Mrs. Fang suggested that after listening to this video, you should complete the above assignments and send them to the “Psychological Growth Self-help Camp” group to supervise and encourage each other. This will help you better understand the content of the course and transform knowledge into abilities.
This Thursday (November 17), please continue to pay attention to the fourth lesson of UCA WAVES-CCACC Public Welfare Psychology Lecture Series – “Love Doesn’t Need to Kill Each Other—Five Expressions of Love” to learn and understand love together.
Mrs. Fang will use her real cases obtained by more than 20 years of practice, so that everyone can be the most authentic partner and self in close relationships, and see the deepest wants and needs of human nature. Through awareness and perception, get rid of auto-pilot emotions, and get out of the dilemma of love—let yourself, those you love, your children, your parents, and everyone in close relationships feel warm and receive companionship.
时间：10月27 – 12月1日 每周四晚
美东时间 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Zoom: 82517431748
Time: October 27th – December 1st every Thursday evening
Join us for a 90-minute webinar on inter-generational trauma hosted by Yale School of Medicine’s CHATogether program. The webinar will be taking place on Wednesday, November 2nd from 6:00-7:30 PM EST on Zoom. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity for healing!
Join us TONIGHT October 27th for the first session of Qi Fang’s five-part series, “Five Expressions of Love”. Sessions will be held every Thursday from 8:00-9:00 PM Eastern Time. Join on Zoom using the IID: 82517431748. We hope to see you there!
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Clinical Scholars: Breaking Silence Team
(from left) Dr. Juliana Chen, Dr. Weiyang Xie, Dr. Justin Chen, & Lily Chen
Juliana H. Chen, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH), and a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She serves as Associate Director of the MGH Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness and has special interest in supporting Asian American students and families.
Weiyang Xie, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. She worked as the Clinical Psychologist & served the Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Health & Wellness Unit at the University of Notre Dame, IN. She also serves as a consulting psychologist for UCA WAVES Program for Asian American youth mental health.
Justin A. Chen, MD, MPH, is Medical Director of Ambulatory Psychiatry Services and Co-Director of Primary Care Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He is also the Director of the MGH Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness and the Co-Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He specializes in the treatment of adult mood and anxiety disorders and is dedicated to teaching and mentorship.
Jian (Lily) Chen, MA, RN, CNE, is a lecturer at North Carolina Central University Department of Nursing. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructor. Lily is a community organizer and has published multiple OpEds that have been featured in major US news outlets. Lily is UCA WAVES Project director, Senior advisor and previous Executive Director of UCA, and the founding President for UCA Illinois Chapter.
The Clinical Scholars Breaking Silences Team will be hosting our session Breaking Silences: Youth Mental Health & Parent-Child Communication. This parent education session will focus on improving parent-child communication, as well as supporting youth and their mental health.
Click here for more info about the Clinical Scholars and their project!
Daphne Kwok: WAVES Guest Speaker
Daphne Kwok is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Asian American & Pacific Audience Strategy at American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
A 1984 graduate of Wesleyan University, Ms. Kwok is the first Asian American to serve on its Board of Trustees.
Previously, Ms. Kwok was the Executive Director of Asians & Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California. She was also the Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation in San Francisco. For 11 years, she was the Executive Director of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national membership based civil rights organization. She was the first elected Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, a network of national APA organizations. She also served as Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.
Ms. Kwok was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010 to chair his Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Commission served as the “eyes and ears” of the community advising the President and the federal government about the issues impacting the AAPI community.
Ms. Kwok will be one of the panelist in our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Mental Health & Advocacy session. This session will exploring current mental health disparities in AAPI communities, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Register today for UCA’s 3rd Chinese American Convention and our 1st National Youth Convention!
The convention is being held at Omni Hotel in Washington, D.C. from July 14th-16th. Please click here for registration, hotel bookings, and programming information.
UCA WAVES will be presenting a mental health track with four breakout sessions, a community showcase, AND a movie screening!
Our mental health track will feature four unique breakout sessions exploring a variety of current mental health topics. Breaking Silences: Youth Mental Health & Parent-Child Communication– Parent education session on improving parent-child communication and supporting youth mental health. Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Mental Health & Advocacy – Exploring current mental health disparities in AAPI communities. Demystifying Medications – Educational session on purpose and importance of psychiatric medications in mental health. LGBTQ+ Workshop: What Coming Out Means – Exploring queer identities and mental health challenges, and howto be an active ally.
Register today for UCA’s 3rd Chinese American Convention as well as our 1st National Youth Convention! UCA WAVES will be presenting a mental health track with multiple sessions including:
🧠 Parent education sessions led by qualified and passionate mental health professionals
🧠 A short documentary screening of award-winning filmmaker, Changfu Chang’s upcoming film, “Silent War: Asian American Reckoning with Mental Health”
🧠 Youth-led discussion on LGBTQ+ mental health
🧠 Dialogue on health disparities in the AAPI community
The convention is being held in Washington, D.C. from July 14th-16th. Please email lily.chen@ucausa.org with any questions!
This month, Yale Compassionate Home, Action Together (CHATogether) and United Chinese Americans (UCA) WAVES partnered to put on a webinar” Building Emotional and Relational Health Through Child-Parent Theater”. Our webinar included an overview of CHATogether, a child-parent skit, and a panel discussion on how to effectively communicate with children when they are going through mental health difficulties. CHATogether is an initiative led by Eunice Yuen, MD PhD that started during the pandemic in response to anti-Asian hate crimes. CHATogether uses artistic outlets, such as interactive theater and graphic novels, to destigmatize mental health and promote healthy communication in Asian American families and communities.
During the skit, participants saw a drama vignette that captured specific themes of child-parent conflict, such as challenges communicating in multiple languages and different perspectives on accessing mental healthcare. The son and his mom had a heated conversation where the son expressed he was struggling to handle various stressors in his life, including loneliness in the pandemic, sickness in the family, and racism on social media. After watching the problematic interaction, Dr. Yuen moderated a session in which the son and mother talked through the interaction and then enacted a more helpful alternative scenario in which they had more empathetic, curious communication.
Our panel of experts included Jessica Ouyang MD, Sen Xu MD, Janie Cao, MD, MPH, and Szu-Hui Lee, PhD, ABPP. Dr. Jessica Ouyang advised parents to make sure they are in a good mental and emotional state before engaging with their children. For example, parents should assess whether they are calm enough to listen before asking about their child’s mental health. Dr. Sen Xu shared that mental illnesses have physiological and biological causes, and that treatments, including therapy and medications, have been shown to improve symptoms. He also talked briefly about how mental health providers assess safety risk for suicide. Dr. Janie Cao reminded us about the power of validation, or 认可 (rèn kě) in Chinese. She describes validation as not necessitating agreement but rather as an acknowledgment that what someone is feeling can be their reality. Finally, Dr. Szu-Hui Lee addressed how parents can respond to bullying, which begins with “listening to understand” rather than listening to tell your own story or opinion. She recommends that parents partner with their child to figure out next steps in addressing bullying, rather than go on their own mission to problem-solve and further alienate their child in the process.
Breaking Silences: Youth Mental Health & Parent-Child Communication– Parent education session on improving parent-child communication and supporting youth mental health.
