SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Local therapists and counseling services from the Asian American Pacific Islander Community (AAPI) are seeing an influx of calls this week after the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay mass shooting.
Asian Pacific Community Counseling in Sacramento saw an increase in calls to their counselors in the Supporting Community Connections Program. The program deals with suicide prevention and early intervention. Dr. Lakshmi Malroutu is the Chief Operations Officer with the program. She says recent events have been causing a re-traumatization for many in the AAPI community
“Brought back some of the memories for people because we serve a lot of clients who have had the immigrant experience some are refugees,” said Malroutu.
Due to these events happening around the Lunar New Year celebrations, there is also concern that trauma is now associated with a yearly event.
“Trauma triggers and anniversaries are a huge trigger for people and often time we don’t even realize they are coming up and how they bring up those feelings,” said Dr. Jadah Petty, a clinical psychologist.
It will be important for the community to check in again this time next year to make sure people aren’t pulling back. As a Korean American herself, Dr. Petty is practicing mindfulness to continue to be there for her patients.
“I recognize for myself, reading the news and the regular checking, I have to take a step back,” said Dr. Petty.
Dr. Petty specializes in race-based trauma and says she has also been seeing a lot of patients due to the hate the community experienced during the pandemic.
“I do see a lot of clients in my practice that are first time therapy clients, Asian American therapy clients,” said Dr. Petty.
This gives her hope that the stigma around mental health is fading and more people will seek care.
The Asian Pacific Community Counseling will see you regardless of status or whether you have insurance.
Resources are available below:
- Center for the Pacific Asian Family: A 24-Hour multilingual helpline is available at 1-800-339-3940. Supported languages:繁體中文,한국어,日本語,Tagalog,Tiếng Việt,ខ្មែរ,हि न्दी,ไทย.
- Asian Mental Health Collective: Searchable directory of AAPI therapists in US & Canada.
- Open Path Collective Nonprofit: network of mental health professionals providing in-office and online mental health care.
This 2nd resource is a low-fee option for those who may not have insurance benefits.
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