Asian American Culture Essay

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Introduction Asian Americans are often times referred to as the model culture however this is very contrary to belief. This ethnic group has many health disparities that are often overlooked due to lack of data and knowledge. One issue that is very prevalent among the Asian American community is mental health disease and the lack Asian American to seek help due to a negative stigma associated with mental health disease. Among all ethnicities, Asian Americans are the least likely to seek help for mental disorders (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2011). In fact there is a large amount of Asian Americans who have difficulty accessing mental health services due to social and cultural differences, language and economic barriers, lack of…show more content…
Many Asian Americans need to be educated about mental health in order to break down some of the popular misconceptions and stereotypes. This will reduce the negative stigma associated with mental health and will increase a sense of awareness and confidence. “Being familiar with the client’s cultural background increases the therapist’s ability to engage in cultural bridging or relating psychotherapeutic concepts to Asian cultural beliefs and practices” (Hwang, 2006). Cultural responsiveness is another concept that needs to be incorporated when trying to teach and educated the Asian American community; it involves not only an understanding of the client’s cultural background, but also awareness of one’s own cultural self-identity and how it interacts and influences one’s practice and attitudes toward those from similar and different backgrounds (Hwang, 2006). It is very important for mental health provides to be aware of the Asian American culture in order to address their mental health needs. It is their responsibility to understand the culture and backgrounds of the community they are treating, so that education and teaching will be effective. “Cultural self-awareness is perhaps the most difficult-to-learn aspect of cultural competency because it requires a degree of openness, vulnerability, and ability to experience a wide range of potentially uncomfortable feelings” (Hwang,
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