Our Wisdom is a space of community, healing, and connection for Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans around mental health, race, and Identity. This group is led by Mengqi Li, LGSW. 

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ABOUT

 

This is an intentional gathering of APIDA identified individuals to learn, heal, and support each other through navigating the intersections of mental health, race, and identity. This group invites members to co-create a space of vulnerability and authenticity around issues that impact so many in the Asian community. 

 

This group addresses mental health topics such as anxiety, depression, perfectionism, boundaries, intergenerational conflict, interpersonal relationships, trauma (including collective/intergenerational trauma) among individuals of Asian identity. 

 

As our individual well-being is inextricably tied to the systems in which we live, this group will also engage with topics such as anti-Asian racism, immigration, model minority myth, perpetual foreigner, the racial triangulation of Asian Americans, and more topics as guided by particular interest of the group. 

 

The group will explore both the gifts and burdens of our ancestors, what we have learned that serves as well and what we can learn to let go of. Most importantly, this group will be a refuge of safety, solidarity and community. 

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THE FACILITATOR

 

I am an Asian American, immigrant, and therapist working primarily with the Asian community. After the brutal murders of Asian women in Atlanta, I began to create healing spaces for Asian identified folks, worked in racial justice initiatives with a special focus on Asian communities, and co-produced a national performance featuring stories from the Asian community around mental health.

 

This group merges my passion for mental health and activism, and this is the group I would have needed when I was grappling with my own journey of mental health and identity. My deepest intention for this group is to reconnect us all with a sense of belonging. 

 

Despite the individual suffering that may lead us to believe we are separate or invisible, this group reminds us that we are not alone. We are connected, and we're all in this together. 

 

LOGISTICS

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• This is a donation-based, drop-in group that meets biweekly on Fridays from 9-10AM EST.

• This is a virtual group and will be hosted on zoom. 

• Since it is a support and not a therapy group, members residing outside of the DC-VA-MD area are also eligible to join.

•  The group will begin October 13th, 2023. Please email Mengqi Li, LGSW, mli.therapist@gmail.com to indicate your interest and be included on email updates and to receive the zoom link.

 

GROUP FORMAT

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Each session will consist of a check-in, discussion/processing around a mental health/race/identity related topic, and a check out. This group is not a space to give unsolicited advice,  or to "therapize" each other. Rather, we invite each member to connect with their own experiences and vulnerability around the issues being shared. Additional group rules will be co-created with group members in the first session. 

 

COST

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There is a suggested donation of $20-30, but depending on each individual’s level of access, any donation from $0-$50 is accepted. All proceeds from this group go towards sustaining the group and creating more access for under market rate individual sessions.

Group will start October 13, 2023.  For more information or registration, contact mli.therapist@gmail.com