Therapy is especially stigmatized in Asian American communities, where saving face is of utmost importance. Acknowledging your problems is akin to admitting weakness; discussing them outside of your family would bring them embarrassment and shame. (Even a mentor can be viewed with confusion or suspicion.) Talking about your problems with a stranger, then — let alone a stranger whom you have to pay — is practically unthinkable.
In addition, Asian cultures generally don’t have a huge vocabulary for feelings or value them highly in the first place; we simply aren’t encouraged to pay attention to them. Thus, many of us have limited awareness of our emotional experiences, let alone words to describe them. On top of that, talking about yourself is generally viewed as immodest in Asian cultures, which place a high premium on modesty. Through that lens, making regular appointments to talk about yourself seems self-indulgent at worst and uncomfortable at best. To read more from Liz Lin, click here.