Asian Americans experience stress from conflicting identities and, for many children of immigrant parents, the weight of growing up in a high-ambition, but under-resourced environment has contributed to the decline in mental health outcomes within this group.
The challenges for this group only increased with the spread of COVID-19. Asian Americans suffered not only from the disease itself, but also from a surge in violent attacks because of racist assumptions about the virus. As a result, many now face mental health challenges as well.
In this webinar, we will look at the mental health and well-being of Asian Americans, particularly during the pandemic. We will discuss tools that can help promote success and resilience under these unusual and uncertain circumstances. And we will think about what you can do to help the community during this time. There will be time for live questions and answers at the end.
Speakers:
Gouri Banerjee, Ph.D. (GRS’73)
Consultant at Empower Success Corps
Dr. Gouri Banerjee is co-founder and a senior advisory committee member of
SAHELI, Support and Friendship for South Asian women, an Asian social work agency committed to response, prevention and education about domestic violence among South Asians.
She has worked for over twenty-five years with Asian immigrants, other domestic violence prevention groups, and court systems in Middlesex County and the Boston Metropolitan area. She has consulted and worked with other Asian groups in Boston, and participated in numerous immigrant initiatives including ‘know your rights’, legal advocacy, housing and public benefits for low-income people. Gouri has trained Saheli agency managers and staff, raised awareness about domestic violence in the South Asian community, and developed strategic plans and initiatives to improve agency outcomes and achieve organization mission.
Gouri has a Ph. D. from Boston University’s College of Liberal Arts, Department of Geography, was an adjunct assistant professor at BU and Salem State University, and retired as an Associate Professor Emerita, Emmanuel College, Boston. She is currently a consultant at Empowerment Success Corps (ESC) in Boston and a member of the Winchester Cultural Council.
Chien-Chi Huang (COM’91)
Executive Director of Asian Women for Health
Chien-Chi Huang is the founder of the Asian Breast Cancer Project and the Executive Director of
Asian Women for Health. Ms. Huang's personal cancer journey led her to participate in national as well as local efforts on health equity and racial justice. Her remarkable passion for the community has changed the healthcare landscape for Asian women and created a pipeline of future leaders and peer health educators.
Alvin Lee, Ph.D. (GRS’15)
Transformation Social Worker at Boston Public Schools
Alvin Lee, Ph.D., LCSW, is a Transformation Social Worker in the Boston Public Schools and works in the Charlestown High School community. In his role as a TSW, Dr. Lee is engaged in Tier 1,2, and 3 work that supports students in their social-emotional learning, connecting students to external partners for long-term clinical support, and targeted resources. Dr. Lee is also involved in anti-racist work within the school and is actively working alongside teaching staff to develop an anti-racist lens to evaluate and change current pedagogy to create a more equitable and culturally responsive learning environment.
Moderator:
Dr. Hyeouk “Chris” Hahm
Chair of Social Research & Professor at BU School of Social Work
Dr. Hyeouk “Chris” Hahm bridges epidemiology, theory building, intervention development, and testing to better understand the causes of depression, self-harm, and suicidal behaviors among Asian American women. A Fellow of the Society for Social Work and Research and member of several editorial boards, she is the chair of her department and has earned national recognition for developing the Asian Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE) program to test interventions and reduce mental health problems in non-clinical populations. She has received major grants from the National Institute of Health and National Science Foundation to support her research, has published a book and 60 journal articles, and has given 200 professional talks locally, nationally, and internationally. She is a past winner of the Outstanding Mentor Award from BU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
The webinar will be conducted using the online Zoom webinar platform. Access information and additional instructions on using the Zoom platform will be provided via email upon successful registration. This webinar is open to all members of the BU community including alumni, students, faculty, and staff.