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(updated) Open Letter & Call to Action from AAPA EC

By Statements

AAPA OPEN LETTER & CALL TO ACTION

Initial Release Date for Membership Commentary: July 14, 2016

Final Release Date to the Public: October 4, 2016

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The  deaths of Alton Sterling, Philandro Castile, Terrence Crutcher, Keith Lamont Scott, and Alfred Olango, and Dallas Police Officers, Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa, have amplified the violence and turmoil in the U.S. at this time. As leaders in the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA), we ourselves are grieving and experiencing the range of emotions – intense sadness and loss, fear and helplessness, anger and frustration. We are at a critical crossroads as a community. We must raise our collective voice and resist the temptation to remain silent. We must stand and act in solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters, including our own family members who identify as Black and Asian. We reaffirm our commitment to #BlackLivesMatter, as echoed in our January 2015 statement on the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Importantly, we seek to move beyond statements and call for action as #API4BlackLives.

We must now come together professionally to stand with our African American and Black brothers and sisters.

As professionals and students in the field of Psychology and Mental Health, we are in a unique position to contribute to the efforts of combating anti-Blackness and responding to the deadly consequences of racism in this country. Many of us have access to opportunities to impact change at multiple levels. We ask that you reflect individually and collectively with your own networks to assess what skills, experience, and wisdom you hold that may serve to actively resist the system of racial oppression that continues to devalue Black and Brown lives. We honor that these actions, however small, involve taking risks and shoring up the courage to enact change. It is within AAPA’s mission and our ethical duty to help individuals and communities heal from these ongoing and historical traumas, as well as to work towards education and prevention of these toxic societal environments.

The AAPA Executive Committee has compiled a list of actions and resources that we, as Asian American/ Pacific Islander psychologists, allied professionals, and students can engage in. This list is organized by various contexts in which you may intervene – as individuals, within our families, in academic & educational settings, in clinical & therapy settings, and through other systems.

Individual Levels

  • Take action: Small actions add up and contribute to resisting despair. Share information, attend rallies or vigils, speak up, and be in community with other folks.
  • Check in with your Black loved ones and offer support however they may need.
  • Understand your own biases by taking an implicit bias test. Dialogue about your results with someone you care about and can encourage you to challenge these biases: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
  • #StayWoke (www.staywoke.org) surveys your strengths and interests to connect you with activism opportunities (approx. 5 minutes).
  • Continue educating yourself on the issues. Some resources include:
  • Own your privilege by participating in the #IOwnMyPrivilege social media campaign

 

Family

  • Talk to your family members of all generations about why #BlackLivesMatter. This is one open-source example created by several AAPI leaders (other languages also available) to help start this conversation with family: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jJwrgAk923hTSHVNkqPo610FMBNrecWz04NCK55VMJ4/preview
  • Translate information. Be reminded that much of our AAPI community would benefit from discussions and information communicated in their respective ethnic language. Consider the use of language, metaphors, and personal experience to share a challenging perspective.
  • Consider historical race-based trauma within your family. Be mindful that our immigrant and refugee community may be triggered by the constant violence and brutality in the media.
  • Stress the interconnectedness of AAPI and Black experiences with racism. Check in with folks and help them to understand that a system that does not respect Black lives will not respect Asian and Pacific Islander lives.
  • Engage in a conversation with children about racial injustice, and provide a safe space for them to ask questions and talk about their feelings. One helpful website is called Raising Race-Conscious Children (http://www.raceconscious.org/). You can also find other articles here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I1BUMrKPUaERiph_3Arq8_MqQ2SDqdpF7mxQXt3_DTs/mobilebasic?pli=1#h.2m3b6zf7wxph

 

Academic & Educational Settings

Clinical & Therapy Settings

  • Invite your clients to discuss recent issues. If you are feeling fearful or uncertain, seek consultation or supervision. Here are two articles to consider
  • Be mindful of ways that you may commit racial microaggressions in therapy settings: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201308/how-well-meaning-therapists-commit-racism
  • Foster dialogue with other clinical staff. If you work in a clinical setting with other clinicians (e.g., hospitals, university counseling centers, community mental health clinics), assess how well you are providing support for Black/African American communities as an institution, especially with regard to ongoing police brutality trauma.
  • Broach subjects of police brutality and related anti-Blackness in supervision. If you provide clinical supervision for other clinicians/trainees, clarify that these topics are relevant and appropriate topics for the therapy space and for supervision. Model and engage in active dialogue with your supervisees, showing how to broach and explore their own affective experiences while discussing race, White supremacy, and anti-Blackness. Support them in being able to foster these conversations with their clients.  

Psychology/Mental Health Partnerships with other Systems

 

  • Work with police departments as psychology experts:

 

      • Inquire if your local police department has required trainings or continuing education opportunities regarding racism or social justice. If anything, find out if they have trainings on mental health issues; if you provide trainings about mental health issues, you can integrate issues related to racism and social justice in your work.
      • Inquire if your police departments have a Community Affairs Bureau or Community Advisory Board. If they do, join it. If they don’t, find out how to create one.
    • Go beyond working to educate White folks.
    • Consider serving as a commissioner if your hometown has a Human Relations Commission. You can also offer to speak at a commission meeting on public record about the importance of police-community dialogues and supporting safety for POC.
    • Request that your Mayor or City Council address concerns about safety and trauma in your community.

 

  • Find other ways that fit your professional skills to center Blackness and work to support the Black community.

We hope that these resources serve as a starting point for further exchange of support and collaboration among our members to promote #API4BlackLives.

 

In Solidarity,

AAPA Executive Committee

 

www.aapaonline.org

Twitter: @AAPAOnline

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aapaonline

Email: contact@aapaonline.org

 

2016 AAPA Leadership Fellows: Dr. Jan Estrellado & Dr. Susan Han

By Announcements, Member Spotlight, News

It is with great pride and excitement that we announce the 2016 AAPA Leadership Fellows: Jan Estrellado, Ph.D. & Susan Han, Ph.D.

Please join in congratulating and welcoming them!

Dr. Jan Estrellado

Dr. Jan Estrellado

Dr. Estrellado earned her PhD in clinical psychology with a research focus on trauma and multicultural issues. She specifically studies the experiences of ethnic minority trauma survivors in therapy. Her clinical practice includes working with people suffering from anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD. She is currently a lecturer at San Diego State University and a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Management in San Diego, California. She has experience working with teens, adults, and older adults at community mental health treatment centers, psychiatric hospitals, and private practice settings. Before entering the psychology field, she worked as the Assistant Director at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center and as the Assistant Resident Dean at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Susan Han

Dr. Susan Han

Dr. Han is a licensed psychologist who is currently working at the Counseling Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) as the Assistant Director of Mental Health Promotion, Outreach and Evaluation. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from George Mason University, completed her pre-doctoral internship at the University of Michigan and a post-doctoral residency year at Cornell University Counseling & Psychological Services. Dr. Han is integrative in her approach to therapy, drawing upon humanistic and cognitive-behavioral theories. Her special interests include multicultural identity development and promotion of psychological health and wellness.

Best,
Richelle Conception & Nellie Tran
AAPA Leadership Fellow Co-Chairs

Open Letter & Call to Action from AAPA EC

By Statements

AAPA OPEN LETTER & CALL TO ACTION

Initial Release Date: July 14, 2016
Link to Google Document (comments enabled through 8/8/16): https://goo.gl/AqeF1v

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

The recent deaths of Alton Sterling, Philandro Castile, and Dallas Police Officers, Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael J. Smith, Brent Thompson, and Patrick Zamarripa, have amplified the violence and turmoil in the U.S. at this time. As leaders in the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA), we ourselves are grieving and experiencing the range of emotions – intense sadness and loss, fear and helplessness, anger and frustration. We are at a critical crossroads as a community. We must raise our collective voice and resist the temptation to remain silent. We must stand and act in solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters, including our own Black Asian family. We reaffirm our commitment to #BlackLivesMatter, as echoed in our January 2015 statement on the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Importantly, we seek to move beyond statements and call for action as #API4BlackLives.

We must now come together professionally to stand with our African American and Black brothers and sisters.

As professionals and students in the field of Psychology and Mental Health, we are in a unique position to contribute to the efforts of combating anti-Blackness and responding to the deadly consequences of racism in this country. Many of us have access to opportunities to impact change at multiple levels. We ask that you reflect individually and collectively with your own networks to assess what skills, experience, and wisdom you hold that may serve to actively resist the system of racial oppression that continues to devalue Black and Brown lives. We honor that these actions, however small, involve taking risks and shoring up the courage to enact change. It is within AAPA’s mission and our ethical duty to help individuals and communities heal from these ongoing and historical traumas, as well as to work towards education and prevention of these toxic societal environments.

The AAPA Executive Committee has compiled a list of actions and resources that we, as Asian American/ Pacific Islander psychologists, allied professionals, and students can engage in. This list is organized by various contexts in which you may intervene – as individuals, within our families, in academic & educational settings, in clinical & therapy settings, and through other systems.

Individual Levels

  • Take action: Small actions add up and contribute to resisting despair. Share information, attend rallies or vigils, speak up, and be in community with other folks.

  • Check in with your Black loved ones and offer support however they may need.

  • Understand your own biases by taking an implicit bias test. Dialogue about your results with someone you care about and can encourage you to challenge these biases: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

  • #StayWoke (www.staywoke.org) surveys your strengths and interests to connect you with activism opportunities (approx. 5 minutes).

  • Continue educating yourself on the issues. Some resources include:

  • Own your privilege by participating in the #IOwnMyPrivilege social media campaign

 

Family

  • Talk to your family members of all generations about why #BlackLivesMatter. This is one open-source example created by several AAPI leaders (other languages also available) to help start this conversation with family: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jJwrgAk923hTSHVNkqPo610FMBNrecWz04NCK55VMJ4/preview

  • Translate information. Be reminded that much of our AAPI community would benefit from discussions and information communicated in their respective ethnic language. Consider the use of language, metaphors, and personal experience to share a challenging perspective.

  • Consider historical race-based trauma within your family. Be mindful that our immigrant and refugee community may be triggered by the constant violence and brutality in the media.

  • Stress the interconnectedness of AAPI and Black experiences with racism. Check in with folks and help them to understand that a system that does not respect Black lives will not respect Asian and Pacific Islander lives.

  • Engage in a conversation with children about racial injustice, and provide a safe space for them to ask questions and talk about their feelings. One helpful website is called Raising Race-Conscious Children (http://www.raceconscious.org/). You can also find other articles here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I1BUMrKPUaERiph_3Arq8_MqQ2SDqdpF7mxQXt3_DTs/mobilebasic?pli=1#h.2m3b6zf7wxph

 

Academic & Educational Settings

Clinical & Therapy Settings

  • Invite your clients to discuss recent issues. If you are feeling fearful or uncertain, seek consultation or supervision. Here are two articles to consider

  • Be mindful of ways that you may commit racial microaggressions in therapy settings: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201308/how-well-meaning-therapists-commit-racism

  • Foster dialogue with other clinical staff. If you work in a clinical setting with other clinicians (e.g., hospitals, university counseling centers, community mental health clinics), assess how well you are providing support for Black/African American communities as an institution, especially with regard to ongoing police brutality trauma.

  • Broach subjects of police brutality and related anti-Blackness in supervision. If you provide clinical supervision for other clinicians/trainees, clarify that these topics are relevant and appropriate topics for the therapy space and for supervision. Model and engage in active dialogue with your supervisees, showing how to broach and explore their own affective experiences while discussing race, White supremacy, and anti-Blackness. Support them in being able to foster these conversations with their clients.

 

Psychology/Mental Health Partnerships with other Systems

  • Work with police departments as psychology experts:

    • Inquire if your local police department has required trainings or continuing education opportunities regarding racism or social justice. If anything, find out if they have trainings on mental health issues; if you provide trainings about mental health issues, you can integrate issues related to racism and social justice in your work.

    • Inquire if your police departments have a Community Affairs Bureau or Community Advisory Board. If they do, join it. If they don’t, find out how to create one.

  • Go beyond working to educate White folks.

  • Consider serving as a commissioner if your hometown has a Human Relations Commission. You can also offer to speak at a commission meeting on public record about the importance of police-community dialogues and supporting safety for POC.

  • Request that your Mayor or City Council address concerns about safety and trauma in your community.

  • Find other ways that fit your professional skills to center Blackness and work to support the Black community.

 

We hope that these resources serve as a starting point for further exchange of support and collaboration among our members to promote #API4BlackLives. Through Monday, August 8th, this document will be open for comments, where members can add their ideas for action and resources to this compilation. The list will then be shared again to the general listserv. We also encourage members to consider the suggestions made by colleagues within APA’s Division 17, as well as the empowering words of AAPA Past-President Dr. Derald Wing Sue and his “Open Letter to Brothers and Sisters of Color.” Finally, we invite all members to engage in these topics and support one another at our Annual Convention this coming Wednesday, August 3rd, whose theme, “Beyond ‘Yellow’ Borders: Revealing Our Diverse Community, Expanding Our Coalition Horizon” is timely.

In Solidarity,

AAPA Executive Committee
www.aapaonline.org | contact@aapaonline.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aapaonline<
Twitter: @AAPAOnline

[Download pdf of Open Letter & Call to Action-July 2016]

AAJP Vol. 7, No. 2, featuring “Parents and teachers’ perspectives on school bullying among elementary school-aged Asian and Latino immigrant children,” by Shea et al.

By AAJP, Announcements, Member Spotlight, News

Asian American Journal of Psychology | June 2016 Issue
Feature Article & Table of Contents

Dr. Munyi Shea

Dr. Munyi Shea

FEATURE ARTICLE:

Parents and Teachers’ Perspectives on School Bullying Among Elementary School-Aged Asian and Latino Immigrant Children
by Munyi Shea, Cixin Wang, Winnie Shi, Victor Gonzalez, and Dorothy Espeleage

AAPA would like to congratulate the authors of “Parents and Teachers’ Perspectives on School Bullying Among Elementary School-Aged Asian and Latino Immigrant Children,” which has been chosen as the Feature Article of the June 2016 issue. Below is a brief biography of the lead author, Dr. Munyi Shea, and some reflections on this research experience. We hope that the readers of AAJP will find this Feature and the rest of the issue’s articles to be informative and of benefit to their work. The Feature Article may be downloaded for free here, and the June 2016 issue’s Table of Contents is at the end of this post.

Brief Biography of Dr. Munyi Shea

Dr. Munyi Shea is an associate professor in psychology at Cal State University, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on issues related to Asian and Latino immigrant mental health, cultural adjustment and school experience, as well as the development and evaluation of culturally responsive school- or community-based prevention and intervention programs. Munyi Shea received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and completed an APA-accredited internship at Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Harvard Medical School in adult clinical psychology.

Reflections from the Lead Author
The most rewarding aspect of this project was to have parents come up to me after the focus group meetings and say how much they appreciated having a space to tell their children’s stories. I was both delighted and surprised, because, from my perspective, the most challenging part of these interviews was to get the parents talk! Most of them had never been in a research study, and felt uneasy to be in the spotlight. Some of them would conceal their nervousness through giggling, and others would avoid revealing their feelings by focusing solely on factual details. Very few of them actually referred to the children involved in bullying (whether their own or those of others) by their names.

At the time of data collection, I focused on getting all the questions asked, and felt perplexed by the accumulating “unanswered” questions that arose in the discussions. But as years have passed, what I now remember are little details – the parents’ non-verbal and facial expressions, their understated ways of showing support to each other (e.g., a pat on the shoulder, offering the Kleenex tissue paper), and their sense of camaraderie.

A fun fact: Because of the school location and the amount of time we spent on site, my research team and I ate out a lot. We sampled a wide variety of cuisines, ranging from lip-smacking street food and dim sum, to banquet-style Chinese food, earning us the reputation of the “eating” lab.

 

AAJP VOLUME 7, ISSUE 2 | TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Articles available on APA PsycNET]

FEATURE ARTICLE: Parents and Teachers’ Perspectives on School Bullying Among Elementary School-Aged Asian and Latino Immigrant Children [Free download of article]
Munyi Shea, Cixin Wang, Winnie Shi, Victor Gonzalez, and Dorothy Espeleage

Measurement Invariance Testing of a Three-Factor Model of Parental Warmth, Psychological
Control, and Knowledge Across European and Asian/Pacific Islander American Youth

Jeremy W. Luk, Kevin M. King, Carolyn A. McCarty, Ann Vander Stoep, and Elizabeth McCauley

“You’re Asian; You’re Supposed to Be Smart”: Adolescents’ Experiences With the Model Minority
Stereotype and Longitudinal Links With Identity

Taylor L. Thompson, Lisa Kiang, and Melissa R. Witkow

Ethnic Differences in Suicidal Ideation and Its Correlates Among South Asian American
Emerging Adults

Robert Lane, Soumia Cheref, and Regina Miranda

Do Social Constraints Always Hurt? Acculturation Moderates the Relationships Between Social
Constraints and Physical Symptoms of Chinese American Breast Cancer Survivors

Celia Ching Yee Wong and Qian Lu

The Effects of Racism-Related Stress on Asian Americans: Anxiety and Depression Among Different
Generational Statuses

Charles M. Liu and Karen L. Suyemoto


Read about the last issue of AAJP: http://aapaonline.org/2016/03/14/aajp-vol7no1/.
For more information on AAJP: http://aapaonline.org/publications/asian-american-journal-of-psychology/.
Contact: Bryan S. K. Kim, Ph.D., Editor, Asian American Journal of Psychology, bryankim@hawaii.edu

AAPA Leadership Fellows Program – Apps due Mon., 6/20

By Announcements

Dear AAPA Community,

The AAPA Leadership Fellows Program is open to applications for the 2016-2018 cohort. Please note that the leadership fellows program has been expanded to a 2-year program. Leadership fellows will be provided with personal, professional, and financial support for 2-years. Deadlines for applications is June 20th, 2016 by 11:59PM PST. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. The call for applications can be downloaded here: [2016 AAPA Leadership Fellows Program Call for Applicants].

All application materials should be emailed to aapaleadershipfellows@gmail.com.

Warm regards,

Nellie Tran & Richelle Conception

AAPA Leadership Fellows Program Co-Chairs

___________

2016 AAPA Leadership Fellows Program

Call for Applications

The AAPA Leadership Fellows program is a two-year leadership pipeline program that provides mentorship around professional development and a leadership pathway by serving as an entry point for leadership for those individuals who might not have other traditional methods of receiving opportunities and mentorship toward leadership in AAPA. For example, the program works to be inclusive to early career members who come from less recognized psychological disciplines and those who could benefit from more focused mentorship that leads to AAPA leadership. The program seeks to diversify the leadership by providing Fellows with mentors and leadership experience in AAPA. The program facilitates the development of AAPA leaders who will contribute to advancing Asian Americans, multiculturalism, and social justice within psychology and the association and to serve as leaders in other academic and organizational settings.

Fellows selected for the program will participate in several trainings, receive individual and group mentoring from experienced leaders in AAPA and Past Fellows, observe and participate in AAPA Executive Committee sessions, complete a two year Fellows’ project, and present their experiences at the 2017 AAPA conference. Fellows from the 2016 cohort will then become Past Fellows and will mentor incoming fellows for the 2017 year (optional attendance at midyear (if applicable) meetings).

Fellows will receive a stipend in the first year to defray travel costs for each required meeting (i.e., midyear meeting TBD or other agreed upon professional conference or meeting, AAPA (maximum of $1000 per trip per Fellow, up to $2000 for the entire year). Additional costs of travel and participation will be at fellows’ expense.

Applicant Criteria: Applicants must be AAPA members who have completed their doctoral degree by August 31, 2016. Preference will be given to applicants who have some prior leadership experience in local contexts (e.g., within their graduate program) but who have not had leadership experience at the national level within psychology (e.g., held formal leadership positions in APA or other national psychological associations or served in any capacity on the AAPA Executive Committee). Individuals who have had limited opportunities to become more involved in leadership roles within AAPA and other organizations (e.g., current mentors are not involved in AAPA, underrepresented professional interests or personal backgrounds) are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Process: Applications should include (a) the required cover sheet (attached and also available at the AAPA website, https://aapaonline.org/). (b) the applicant’s CV (no more than 3 pages, please include a section detailing prior leadership experience and the names of 2 professional references), (c) a short statement (no more than 1500 words) describing the reasons for applying, the desired outcome for the applicant, and the reason for interest in the Fellows program, and (e) one letter of reference from an individual familiar with your professional work and past leadership experiences.

Please send electronic applications by June 20, 2016, to the Leadership Fellows Chairs at aapaleadershipfellows@gmail.com. Adobe Acrobat’s Portable Document Format (*.pdf) is preferred and Microsoft Word format (*.doc, *docx) is acceptable.

Nellie Tran, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Community Based Block Program
Department of Counseling & School Psychology
San Diego State University
Office Phone:619-594-5333