Asian American Mental Health Therapy
Our community is vast and diverse, but we often need a culturally fluent therapy partner.
I help clients navigate issues of race/culture and ethnicity, helping clients sort out how family history, acculturation, inter-generational family trauma, as well as racial trauma has impacted the mental health of the Asian American community. Communication, attachment, boundaries, shame, and emotional dysregulation are topics we tackle together.
We will discuss how to navigate the workplace, identifying where the bamboo ceiling is affecting you emotionally, and organizationally. In our work together, we may unpack how intersections of your identity impact you, including: patterns of perfectionism, shame, communication style, attachment, people-pleasing, and/or how anxiety/stress might manifest somatically, in your body.
Therapeutic work on identifying how to invest in your authentic self, uncover how you may have learned how to code-switch can be helpful to identify how to be more present and awake to the choices you are making in your relationships, work, or in your family.
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. Hi, I am Dr. Regina Chow Trammel, and I am a process-based therapist with over 15 years of experience treating hundreds of clients over the years successfully using Existential, Mindfulness-based and Narrative Therapy, Inner Child healing work, Power analysis work, and more...
Please reach out by texting, or calling: 626-765-7602 today!
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:
Perfectionism, which 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.
Deconstruction of 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?
Racialized trauma: In this era of Anti-Asian hate, 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.
My practice is on a HIPAA-compliant, safe, secure, private, online video portal and have limited in person sessions in Azusa, CA.
I see Asian American clients in California: Glendora, Azusa, Los Angeles, Azusa, Duarte, Monrovia, La Verne, Pasadena, Arcadia, Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Francisco, San Jose, and more…
I see Asian American clients in Illinois: Chicago, Naperville, Wheaton, Lisle, and more…