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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://beta.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

AAPA Statement on Orlando Shooting

By Announcements, News, Press Release, Statements

AAPA Statement on Orlando Shooting

June 14, 2016

AAPA offers our condolences and ongoing support in response to the horrific act of violence in Orlando, Florida this past Sunday, June 12, 2016, in the midst of Pride celebrations among the LGBTQ community. The shootings of innocent people celebrating Latin night at Pulse Nightclub is a tragedy impacting family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and the wider community who have lost their loved ones in a senseless act of violence.

We join in mourning with the many intersected communities impacted by the Orlando shootings, especially our LGBTQ AAPA members and the Division on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning (LGBTQQ) within AAPA. As a community-at-large, we can stand up and take actions in the face of overwhelming tragedy. We will donate what we can, be it blood to be banked or money for victims’ families and organizations that promote peace and support LGBTQ communities.

Importantly, we provide our unwavering support to stay united and protect the human rights of all. We reject hatred in all of its forms and reaffirm our commitment to opposing anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim bigotry. Let us stand together and not allow a single individual’s hateful actions to turn us against our Muslim brothers and sisters. We will continue to celebrate Pride Month, Ramadan, and Immigrant Heritage Month.  We urge each of us to continue to do our part by reaching out to one another, inviting dialogue, reducing stigma, and promoting access to mental health care during these difficult times. We especially urge you to continue your advocacy work and education about issues of violence, discrimination, hatred, oppression, mental illness, extremism, and the impact on all affected communities.

 

Selected Resources for Support and Information:

American Psychological Association – Managing your distress in the wake of mass shooting:

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/mass-shooting.aspx

American Psychological Association- How to talk to children about difficult news and tragedies:

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/talking-to-children.aspx

SAMHSA – Incidents on Mass Violence:

http://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline/disaster-types/mass-violence

Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays:

https://www.pflag.org/

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kevin Nadal, Ph.D.

AAPA President, kevin.nadal@aapaonline.org

Download Statement: [AAPA Statement on Orlando Shooting 2016-06-14.pdf]

AAPA Board Nominations by Wed., 4/27! Seeking Secretary/Historian nominations

By Announcements

Dear AAPA Friends and Colleagues,

The call for nominations for AAPA elected positions is extended to Wednesday, April 27th, 2016. We still have a vacancy for the Secretary/Historian position. Please consider nominating yourself!

Below is a list of first-round nominees:
President-Elect : Helen Hsu
Vice President : Richelle Concepcion
Secretary/Historian: No nominations received
Board of Directors: Amy Kobus; Marcia Liu
Board of Director (Student Representative): Ming Tu
Council of Representatives (CoR) Chair: Monique Shah Kulkarni

AAPA nominations should be accompanied by a brief statement (max. 250 words) addressing:
· Past AAPA offices held (if any);
· Past contributions to AAPA and/or Asian American psychology;
· Goal statement of what the nominee hopes to accomplish as an AAPA officer.

Nominees must be current AAPA members. Self-nominations are encouraged.

Please send nominations and statements by April 27th, 2016 via email (as text in the body of the email message, NOT as an attachment) to:
Pei-Wen Winnie Ma, AAPA Secretary/Historian: map@wpunj.edu

Descriptions of the positions are listed below:

Duties of the President. In performing the duties of office, the President-Elect shall:
1. conduct the business of the Association between meetings of The Executive Committee;
2. be an ex-officio member of all committees and chair of The Executive Committee meetings;
3. represent the Association in business matters with other organizations, agencies, or governmental bodies;
4. act for the Association in any particular business matter, provided that prompt reports are furnished to The Executive Committee, and that the action is not opposed by a majority of The Executive Committee, and that
the action is consistent with the Association By-Laws;
5. delegate some of his or her duties to other members at his or her discretion;
6. serve a two year term of office, or until a successor assumes the office.

Duties of the Vice President. In performing duties of office, the Vice President shall:
1. serve in the place of the President should the President not be able to carry out his or her duties;
2. assume other duties as agreed upon with the President;
3. oversee the planning of the Association’s annual convention;
4. delegate responsibilities to other Association members at his or her discretion;
5. serve a two year term of office, or until a successor assumes the office.

Duties of the Secretary/Historian. In performing the duties of the office, the Secretary/Historian shall:
1. collect and maintain archival items of that Association including but not limited to AAPA publications (newsletters, monographs, journals, convention proceedings), convention programs, and other items of
historical significance;
2. document summaries of Executive Committee meetings and other Association meetings of historical significance when so directed by The Executive Committee;
3. compose election materials for the newsletter and collect ballots;
4. serve for two year term of office, or until a successor assumes the office.

Duties of the Directors. In performing duties of their office, the Directors shall:
1. assume specific duties and responsibilities as directed by the President;
2. assist the Vice-President in planning the annual convention;
3. act as liaisons to other national or international organizations which purposes or actions will benefit the Association and its purposes;
4. assist in soliciting corporate donations and other fund raising activities to carry out the objectives of the Association, including awarding of student scholarships;
5. serve for no more than two (2) consecutive terms of two years each.

CoR Chair. The primary responsibility of the CoR Chair in relation to the AAPA parent organization is to communicate the perspectives and decisions of the CoR and Divisions to the AAPA Executive Committee, and to communicate the perspectives and decisions of the AAPA Executive Committee to the CoR. The CoR Chair attends both AAPA Executive Committee and CoR meetings. He/she has primary responsibilities on the CoR,chairing this body and guiding the development of shared initiatives of the divisions. Because the CoR Chair has voting rights on the AAPA Board, she/he is elected by the general membership of the Association. However, the CoR will have the sole responsibility for providing a slate of nominees for the position of CoR Chair and no other nominations will be accepted from other individuals or groups. An individual cannot simultaneously hold the position of CoR Chair position and a Division leadership position.

Student Award deadlines this Friday, April 1st!

By Announcements
Friday, April 1st is the deadline for the AAPA Dissertation Research Grant and the new Stephen C. Rose Scholarship for Psychology Research on Asian American Youth.iStock_000021553024ApplyNow
  • 2016 AAPA Dissertation Research Grant;This grant (up to $500) is awarded to a doctoral student to support his or her research that contributes to the advancement of Asian American Psychology. 
  • *The Stephen C. Rose Scholarship for Psychology Research on Asian American YouthThis scholarship from the Steve Fund ($1,000 plus travel stipend to present research at the AAPA Convention) is awarded to either an undergraduate or graduate student proposing a research project focusing on the mental and emotional health of Asian American students on college campuses. (*This award is new this year.)

ALL MATERIALS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY April 1, 2016, by 5pm EST.

For more information, visit the Awards webpage, attached descriptions, or contact AAPA Student Awards Committee Chair, Hyung Chol (Brandon) Yoo, Ph.D. at yoo@asu.edu

AAJP Vol. 7, No. 1 featuring “Asian Indian International Students’ Trajectories of Depression, Acculturation, and Enculturation,” by Meghani & Harvey

By Announcements

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

FEATURE ARTICLE:
“Asian Indian International Students’ Trajectories of Depression, Acculturation, and Enculturation”
Dhara T. Meghani and Elizabeth A. Harvey

Dr. Dhara Meghani

Dr. Dhara Meghani

AAPA would like to congratulate the authors of “Asian Indian International Students’ Trajectories of Depression, Acculturation, and Enculturation,” which has been chosen as the Feature Article of the March 2016 issue. Below is a brief biography the lead author, Dr. Dhara T. Meghani, and some reflections on the study and its inspiration. 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 March 2016 issue’s Table of Contents is at the end of this post.

Brief Biography of Dr. Dhara T. Meghani

Dhara T. Meghani, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. program within the School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of San Francisco. Dr. Meghani’s research focuses on mental health outcomes of individuals and families following major life events including immigration, trauma, and new parenthood. Dr. Meghani is also interested in the training and education of health professionals and in incorporating trauma-informed care across integrated health settings to improve service delivery and patient experiences. Dr. Meghani was an AAPA Leadership Fellow during 2013-14 and is also a past columnist for South Asian Parent magazine, in which she blogged about the intersection of parenting and child development research and cultural practices relevant to families in the South Asian diaspora.

Dr. Meghani holds a B.A in Psychology (Anthropology minor) from the University of California Berkeley and received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She completed her clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco/San Francisco General Hospital Child Trauma Research Program and is trained in Child-Parent Psychotherapy, an intervention for children under six and their parents who have been exposed to interpersonal trauma.

Reflections from the Lead Author

Much of the inspiration for this research study came from watching my parents – themselves immigrants – regularly welcome Indian international graduate students from the local university to our home for meals and to celebrate Indian holidays while I was growing up. It was apparent how appreciative the students were to have a little taste of home away from home (many of them still keep in touch), and hearing their varied impressions intrigued me and left me wanting to know more about how they felt about living in such a different culture thousands of miles away. One of the biggest challenges of conducting this study involved collecting longitudinal data beyond the University walls by implementing internet-based surveys, which were still relatively new when we launched the study. This methodology certainly had advantages, such as enabling us to sample from over 30 institutions; at the same time, recruiting and maintaining participants who had not met us in person over six time points was tricky – even in this age, there is little substitute for face-to-face interaction! At the end of the study, several students commented on how much they enjoyed completing the surveys as this was a rare opportunity to reflect on their personal well-being and track their growth during the academic year. This was a benefit of participation that we had not necessarily anticipated, and it was exciting to see students spontaneously disclose feelings of pride and accomplishment in ‘surviving’ their first year of graduate school and initial months in the United States. I continue to be ever grateful to the students who participated and allowed us to accompany them during this momentous and transformative period in their lives. (Dr. Dhara T. Meghani, 2016)

 

AAJP VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1  | TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Articles available for download through PsycNET]

[Feature Article] Asian Indian International Students’ Trajectories of Depression, Acculturation, and Enculturation
Dhara T. Meghani and Elizabeth A. Harvey

Emotional Self-Control, Interpersonal Shame, and Racism as Predictors of Help-Seeking Attitudes Among Asian Americans: An Application of the Intrapersonal–Interpersonal-Sociocultural Framework
Paul Youngbin Kim, Dana L. Kendall, and Elizabeth S. Chang

The Relationship of Colonial Mentality With Filipina American Experiences With Racism and Sexism
Lou Collette S. Felipe

Correlates of Asian American Emerging Adults’ Perceived Parent-Child Cultural Orientations: Testing a Bilinear and Bidimensional Model
Minkyeong Shin, Y. Joel Wong, and Cara S. Maffini

A Narrative-Linguistic Approach to Understanding Asian American Adolescents’ Discrimination Experiences
Lisa Kiang and Kalpa Bhattacharjee

Implications of Emotion Expressivity for Daily and Trait Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Functioning Across Ethnic Groups
William Tsai, Michael Sun, Shu-wen Wang, and Anna S. Lau

Intercultural Stressors of Chinese Immigrant Students: Voices of Chinese-American Mental Health Professionals
Chieh Li, Huijun Li, and Jianghe Niu

[International Section] Writing Can Heal: Effects of Self-Compassion Writing Among Hong Kong Chinese College Students
Celia C. Y. Wong and Winnie W. S. Mak

AAPA Convention Interdisciplinary Call for Proposals Now Open

By Announcements, Call for Proposals, Convention

The 2016 AAPA Convention is now calling for proposals for posters, symposia, and interactive sessions. Interdisciplinary proposals are highly encouraged for the theme: “Beyond ‘Yellow’ Borders: Revealing Our Diverse Community, Expanding Our Coalition Horizon”. For more information, visit http://beta.aapaonline.org/convention/ and download the full 2016 Call for Proposals.

Deadline: March 21, 2016 at 11:00 p.m. PST