About
Hello! My name is Yin and I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist. I started Asians Do Therapy because many people in our Asian community are struggling and suffering, often times in isolation. My hope is that in highlighting Asian people’s experience in therapy and as therapists and sharing culturally relevant information, more Asians and Asian Americans will seek therapy as a resource, available and meant for us.
Yes, therapy is primarily centered on the white, Western, middle class experience, which is problematic on many levels. And, therapy can be so impactful. Let’s work together towards an understanding and a practice of what good, culturally informed therapy can look like
As a child of working class immigrants, I understand the shame and stigma of seeking support from a therapist. I first went to therapy in my early 20s. I remember sitting in my car before my first appointment, terrified and overwhelmed with anger, shame, and grief. I didn’t know it at the time but that first therapy session would change the course of my life.
Eventually, I pursued a Masters in Counseling Psychology, became a licensed therapist, and left a 15 year career in investment banking and technology. The change in career was an external manifestation of what was happening in my inner world. As I began to heal, I was reconnecting with the parts of myself that I was conditioned by my family’s legacy of survival and by my environment to ignore - my values, my interests, my purpose, my tenderness, and most importantly, my humanity.
I still go to therapy. It continues to be an integral part of my healing and growth.
Sometimes, I think Asians Do Therapy should be called Asians Do Healing as the goal is not therapy for therapy’s sake but therapy as a portal, a gateway to healing.
To our collective healing and wellness,
Yin J. Li, MA LMFT