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Mental Health: Working Together

In this story, Paul Hoang — the founder of Viet-C.A.R.E., a non-profit organization providing mental health services — shares his journey from escaping Vietnam to discovering his passion for helping others and creating Viet-C.A.R.E. Read on to learn about his perspective on mental health in AAPI communities.


When I was seven, I escaped Vietnam in late 1987 with my dad and two older sisters along with twenty-seven other men, women, and children on a small fishing boat. We spent around thirty days floating at sea, dealing with starvation, pirate attacks, storms, and many near death situations. After we were finally rescued, my family spent two years in various refugee camps in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines before moving to the US in 1989. I spent the majority of my life growing up in Moreno Valley, and it wasn’t the best of places. Initially, there were a lot of gangs, and we were one of the only three Vietnamese families, so there was a lot of discrimination. In school, I fought a lot, as I was bullied and targeted by other kids who would wait for me whenever I left the house to jump me. Growing up in that environment, I learned how to survive on the street. But I did not realize that I suffered from PTSD and depression as a refugee. I was too young to be aware of that, and within our Asian community or Asian family, we are not aware of mental illness or know of the concept since it is not talked about often.

In sixth grade, I started having straight A's, and then I continued to pursue, going on to take honors and AP classes and graduate as one of the top ten of my high school class. However, during that whole time, I was very angry because I was not aware that I was depressed. Much of the anger came from the depressions from PTSD. At the time, I felt like human beings were viruses to the world — absorbing resources and leaving the place worse off than we first found it.

I went to Chicago for college, and that’s when I took my first psychology class. It was the first time I had been introduced to the concept, and a lot of what I read in textbooks was me. Growing up, every time there’s a storm or a cloudy sky, my body shook; every time I saw a Thai person, I would feel consumed by rage; and every time I jumped into the swimming pool, my whole body would lock up and I would just sink to the bottom of the pool.

During that time period, I decided to go down the religious path and become a missionary helping people. I earned my bachelor degree in philosophy, and in my seven years as a missionary, I had the opportunity and privilege to travel throughout the Midwest of the US and then a year in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Throughout those seven years, I learned that the root of many societal problems was mental illness — when a person’s mind is not well and it affects their thoughts, moods, and behaviors, which then creates consequences for the individual, family, community, and society. I’ve come to realize that the larger the influence a person has, the larger the negative impact their actions have when they’re not of

sound mind. Additionally, in my years as a missionary, I had trained and got my master’s degree in social and clinical work. I had gotten deeper and deeper into mental health, and I discovered that it was my calling in life. I became at peace living a religious life and pursuing the mental health field since then. Now, I love everything I do. I've been focusing a lot of my work on suicide prevention, mental health, empowerment, education and system transformations, resource enhancement for the community and specifically for those who are voiceless who oppressed and stigmatized.



We also asked Mr. Hoang various other questions. Here are his answers (edited for length/clarity):


1. How did you first become involved in social work and found Viet-C.A.R.E? Was there a moment early on that sparked your drive, or that gave you the confidence to pursue this path?

When I moved back to California from Chicago, I was burnt out since I was the only Vietnamese-speaking clinician and had patients coming from all over the state for services and treatment. I decided to move to Orange County, and I made it my goal to address mental health challenges within the Vietnamese community. To do this, I needed other Vietnamese-speaking providers. For the first few months, I did as much research and networking as possible to find out what organizations I could work with and support. However, I realized there weren’t any groups around that were willing to or could do what I wanted to do for the Vietnamese community. So, I convened a meeting with as many Vietnamese mental health professionals, and about twenty participants showed up. I shared with them my concerns, observations, and desire to take action. That was how Viet-C.A.R.E. was founded.

The “C.A.R.E.” in Viet-C.A.R.E. stands for Community, Actions, Resources, and Empowerment, which is my philosophy of addressing mental health challenges with the Vietnamese community. We need to mobilize and keep the whole community involved because mental health is a community issue, not just an individual or family issue. We have to organize the whole community to respond, and that has to lead towards taking concrete action that results in change rather than just talking. One of the main challenges of mental health in many underserved communities is the lack of resources in terms of both education and literature. Additionally, funding and language-speaking providers are needed as well. Finally, empowerment is especially focused on since even if we have all the resources, if we don’t feel empowered to utilize them, it’s going to be useless. Part of what Viet-C.A.R.E. does is educating and empowering people to take action on their own.


2. How do you connect with and speak to members of the AAPI community about mental health?

In one-on-one interactions, it’s important to gather information that’s specific to the individual that we are talking to rather than the generalizations of the whole group of people. I call this the culturally adaptive response. Just because my client and I are both Asian or Vietnamese doesn’t mean that we understand each other. We could be from different generations, different social classes, and different areas, and those are important factors. As providers, we need to take these aspects into consideration to understand them individually for their own unique personality and dynamics. This enables us to develop a treatment plan and approaches that work with the individual rather than generalizing approaches to work with everybody.

There’s also a difference in terms of language. Speaking to someone who came to the US in the 80s is not the same as speaking to someone who came in the 2000s. Additionally, the usage of specific terms are important since there are also differences in cultural associations to them. For example, when working with first-generation Vietnamese people, we use terminology that is more based on the modern Vietnam language. However, that language doesn’t connect with older generations since it may trigger trauma, which leads to being resistant to treatment. We have to be mindful of the experiences of the people we interact with.


3. As you work to combat the stigma surrounding mental health, it may seem like there isn’t much progress. At times like this, do you feel discouraged? If so, how do you stay motivated?

Feeling discouraged is a human emotion. It's important for us to allow ourselves to feel that way because it's realistic to know that we will never or we will not always achieve everything that we set our mind to do. It’s part of the human experience that allows us to move on rather than being stuck in that moment of disappointment or frustration. When we are stuck, it's important to remind ourselves why we go into this field in the first place.

I always try to remind myself of the positive experiences that I have achieved with people — whether it's helping them improve their mental health, preventing them from following through with suicide, or helping their family members to heal from addiction. I have plenty of success stories, and that reminds me of the possibility and of the healing in the recovery process. At the same time, I do see individuals not achieving the level of healing or recovery that I had hoped for them. It's humbling to be able to recognize that’s where they're at in life, and I have to work with their goal and their pace rather than my own.

Then, of course, part of being motivated is having a support system. I have my wonderful wife, my family, and my kids who are supportive of what I do. The sacrifices they make and the understanding that they have allows me to continue to be active in the community. Without my family support, I wouldn't be able to do what I do. Those are some things that are critical.

I've learned that for us to be able to last, or for us to be able to thrive and succeed at what we do on this journey, we must understand that success does not mean that we always achieve what we want. Success means being consistent and being persistent with our goal, and we need to have a strong support system. That support system has to have your family, your friends, and you have to have a balanced life. For myself, spirituality is a strong part of my component of my faith and my life. Faith is the core of who I am, and I surrender to God what I cannot do. I do the best that I can and then I let it go.


4. Finally, are there any other issues, projects, personal experiences, aspects of your AAPI identity, etc., that you’d like to highlight?

To address the lack of providers in our community, I have started the first community mental health worker apprenticeship program in the country. It just went into effect in June and was registered with the US Department of Labor and with the state of California. This is one way for me to be able to help not only the Vietnamese community but also any community that needs additional language service providers. They are only required to have one year of hands-on training. With that one year of training, they can get certified and paid full salary as a community mental health worker. It's equivalent to a four year degree at going to a four year degree or one year training program. It's going to take off and I have high hopes that this program is going to impact all communities, not just the Vietnamese community.


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