DeepSummary
The podcast episode features an interview with Sahaj Kaur Kohli, the founder of Brown Girl Therapy, the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for adult children of immigrants. Sahaj discusses the challenges faced by immigrant parents in raising their children in a new cultural context while trying to maintain their own cultural roots and values.
Sahaj highlights the difference between collectivist and individualistic cultures, and how traditional mental health models are largely eurocentric and focused on individuality, which may not resonate with people from collectivist cultures. She emphasizes the importance of incorporating cultural context and beliefs into mental health resources and parenting advice.
Sahaj also shares insights from her book 'But What Will People Say' and her personal experiences as a child of immigrants. She talks about the complexities of navigating mental health, identity, and relationships between cultures, and the importance of compassion, understanding, and open communication within immigrant families.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Immigrant parents face unique challenges in raising their children in a new cultural context while trying to maintain their own cultural roots and values.
- Traditional mental health models and parenting resources are often Eurocentric and focused on individuality, which may not resonate with individuals from collectivist cultures.
- It is essential to incorporate cultural context, beliefs, and experiences into mental health resources and parenting advice to make them more relevant and relatable.
- Open communication, compassion, and understanding are crucial in navigating relationships and mental health within immigrant families.
- Immigrant families often face fears and anxieties about their children losing their cultural roots or adopting values and norms that may be seen as disrespectful in their communities.
- Relationships within immigrant families can be complex, with love and healing coexisting with challenges and past actions that may have had a negative impact.
- Navigating relationships within immigrant families is not about cutting ties or labeling people as toxic, but rather about acknowledging individual experiences and making conscious choices about maintaining and repairing relationships.
- Sharing personal stories and experiences can be a powerful way to challenge previous held beliefs, promote understanding, and foster healing within immigrant communities.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “And so it's really important to me to kind of infuse culture where I can, because I don't think that we. I think in the western world, we're talking about it in a very specific way and over generalizing it and saying, if this is not how you view wellness or how you engage in your relationships or you engage in your family, it's not right, and that's not true.“ by Sahej Korkoli
- “It's not about cutting them out. It's not about, you know, calling people toxic. It's about just acknowledging where people are when things happened and what they lived through and whether or not you want to do the work to maintain those relationships and move forward.“ by Sahej Korkoli
- “And so there is a lot of fear, a lot of worry, a lot of anxiety around how their kids are going to maintain their cultural roots or be rooted in where they come from, or it's a lot of fear about how they're going to be, quote unquote to american or start adopting certain values and norms that are considered disrespectful in those immigrant communities.“ by Sahej Korkoli
- “And I think that everybody's making their choices, we can't get into anyone's brain, but having a little more compassion. And again, I love your book because you are speaking to the other's perspective that's not always there, which is that collectivist culture, which I just think is so great.“ by Mona Amin
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Episode Information
The PedsDocTalk Podcast
Dr. Mona Amin
5/8/24
Do you know the cultural differences that can exist being immigrant parents and the mental health issues that are unique? Whether you come from an immigrant household or not, this episode is a must to really dive into the cultural stereotypes that exist surrounding mental health and, subsequently, how we show up for our children. I welcome Sahaj Kaur Kohli who is the founder of Brown Girl Therapy (@browngirltherapy), the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for adult children of immigrants, a licensed therapist, and author of the Book, But What Will People Say: Navigating mental health, identity, love, and family between cultures.
She joins me to discuss:
- The difference between collectivist and individualistic cultures and why the distinction is important
- Why diversity in mental health and parenting resources is important
- What struggles immigrant parents have that may be unique
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