Meet RAMS - Eddie Chiu, PhD

Dr. Eddie Chiu, Director of RAMS Asian Family Institute, was invited and presented at the 15th International Conference on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, held in San Diego by the The Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT), an international resource and training center at Alliant International University.

The presentation, given on September 11, 2010, was titled "Addiction, Trauma, and a Developmental Process of Treatment and Recovery". Dr. Chiu presented on the topic of Gambling Addiction and Domestic Violence in Asian American Communities.

Click HERE to read coverage from Sing Tao USA newspaper in Chinese

Photo credit: Ravages on Flickr

Guest Post - Yuka Hachiuma, MFTi

Today's guest post is from Yuka Hachiuma, MFTi, Mental Health Counselor at RAMS who also served as the Program Coordinator for the Summer Bridge program. Taking place from June 14 to August 6, Summer Bridge was an 8-week summer mentoring program for San Francisco high school students, designed "to promote awareness of psychological well-being and foster interest in the helping professions".

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Oh, the places you'll go!
"Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to great places.
You're off and away. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go...."

-- Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

In the final week leading up to the end of Summer Bridge, when I stopped to reflect on the past weeks spent with the Summer Bridge participants, the opening lines of Dr. Seuss's classic children's book popped into my head. The book is about life and its challenges, but is also an optimistic encouragement to the reader to go out and conquer the world.

This story came to mind because the message is very applicable to the first group of Summer Bridge graduates. Many, if not most, of them have already experienced various challenges in their lives. These stories came out in the experiential activities we did and engaging discussions we had as we got to know each other throughout the program. The group worked together to create a safe, respectful space where everyone could be themselves while learning and having fun together. There were definitely times when opinions clashed and feelings were hurt. But, they managed to work through their differences and created deeper relationships as a result. What is most notable about this group is their resilience in the face of these challenges, and their desire to give back to their community in the future. This blend of life experience, psychological insightfulness, and community focus makes them very well-suited to pursue a career in the helping professions. My hope is that the Summer Bridge graduates will use this experience as a launching pad to learn more about themselves, pursue their interests, and create opportunities to make good choices for themselves in their lives.

Spending the summer with this group of amazing youth has been an inspiring experience for me, and it has renewed my passion and commitment to nurturing the next generation of mental health professionals. For that, I have them to thank.

-Yuka

Presenting aplenty at AAPA and APA

The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) 2010 Annual Convention, "Expanding Our Horizons: The Next Decade in AAPI Psychology", took place on August 11 at University of San Diego, California. RAMS was well-represented at this illustrious annual event, with presentations from:

Dr. Katherine Eng, Psychologist at the Adult/Older Adult Outpatient Clinic:
"The Future in the Field: Effective Techniques and Programs in the Clinical Training of API serving clinicians", a panel presentation together with Helen Hsu & Jennifer Lee. The symposium presented best practice techniques and programs in the training of clinicians to work effectively with Asian American Pacific Islander populations.

Ulash Dunlap, Behavioral Health Counselor at the Wellness Centers program:
"Post-partum Depression Among Asian and Asian American Women: Cultural Considerations and Treatment", a panel presentation together with Juli Fraga and Denise Kwok. This session explored ways that mental health providers can provide better screening, early intervention, and clinical support for Postpartum Depression (PPD) among Asian and Asian American women.
and
"Creative and Culturally Responsive Outreach with South Asian American Populations" – DoSAA-sponsored, a panel presentation together with Nima Patel, Anjuli Amin and Razia Kosi. Therapists facilitated a discussion focused on building bridges to South Asian (SA) communities through the use of outreach services.

Poster sessions were also featured at the convention, including a presentation from RAMS and Alliant International University-CSPP, represented by Drs. Eddie Chiu, Director of Asian Family Institute, and Tai Chang from CSPP: "Training Asian American psychologists for the real world: Integrating program evaluation and clinical training in a community mental health setting" Chiu, E. Y., Ph.D., Chang, T., Ph.D., Okubo, Y., Ph.D., Adams, L. A., MA., Bassiri, K. G., MS., Kwan, K., Ph.D., Shea, C., MS.

The American Psychological Association (APA) 2010 Annual Convention took place immediately following the AAPA, August 12-15. RAMS staff Ulash Dunlap, together with co-presenters Anjuli Amin and Daisy Singla, gave a talk titled "South Asian Women through Multiple Lens: Health, School, and Religion/Culture". In an attempt to understand and shed light on the various acculturative processes that South Asian women encounter in their daily life, this symposium addressed three important areas for counselors to consider: school, health, and religion.

Let's give a round of applause to our distinguished presenters!

Photo credit: seretuaccidente on Flickr

And the winner is...

The RAMS Raffle fundraiser was a success!

The raffle drawing reception was held on August 12 at Vespa San Francisco, located at 1450 Franklin Street. Wine and light snacks were served, and attendees had the opportunity to admire the exotic & vintage car collection on the ground-level showroom. RAMS gratefully acknowledges Vespa San Francisco / Cars Dawydiak for hosting this reception, and Walter Dawydiak for his generous donation. Check out their website http://www.vespasf.com/.

The winning raffle tickets were drawn by Pete Surber, Sales & Operations Manager at VespaSF. The lucky winners are:

Hai-Yang Sun, Grand Prize of 2010 Vespa S50 Scooter

Ray Montella , 2nd place Prize of a night's stay at Hotel Vitale, and 2 tickets to Aquarium Of The Bay

Hoa Truong, 3rd place Prize of a Flip Ultra Video Camera and tripod

Kimya Rahnema, 4th place Prize of 2 show tickets to Yoshi's San Francisco

Congratulations to the winners! Thank you to all of the raffle participants and ticket buyers for your enthusiasm and your support!

Raffle Drawing at VespaSF on Thursday August 12

Less than one week to go until the Summer Scooter Sweepstakes contest draws to a close!

The raffle drawing reception shall be held at Vespa San Francisco, located at 1450 Franklin Street (between Fern St & Bush St), from 5:30-6:30pm. The actual raffle ticket drawing shall commence at 6:00pm sharp.

Winner names shall be drawn for four prizes:
- 4th prize: 2 show tickets to Yoshi's San Francisco
- 3rd prize: Flip Ultra Video camera
- 2nd prize: 1 night stay at Hotel Vitale and 2 tickets to Aquarium Of The Bay
and of course,
- Grand prize: A 2010 Vespa S50 Scooter

The prize winners do not need to be present to win, and will be notified on Friday August 13 if they are not at the reception in person.

For more details, check out our events page at www.ramsinc.org/events

Photo credit: carloalberto on Flickr

Celebrating Mental Health in Diverse Communities

In celebration of Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Mental Health (NNED) offered a webinar to highlight minority mental health. This was a two-part series: One webinar was held on July 7, focusing on Latino & American Indian communities. The most recent was held on July 28, featuring Asian American, African American, and LGBTQ communities. These two webinars highlighted the ways communities across the country are celebrating minority mental health.

RAMS CEO Kavoos Bassiri, LMFT, CGP was one of the featured presenters at the July 28 webinar, together with DJ Ida, PhD, Executive Director of NAAPIMHA; Kathy Wright, Executive Director of the New Jersey Parents' Caucus; and Caitlin Ryan, PhD, ACSW, Director of the Family Acceptance Project.

Click HERE for more information on the webinar, on NNED, their upcoming presentations & events, and how to join the network.

Walking on sunshine... and don't it feel GOOD!

In the previous blog post, we introduced our Summer Bridge program for high school students. Yuka Hachiuma, MFTi, is the Program Coordinator for Summer Bridge as well as a Mental Health Counselor at our Child, Youth, & Family Outpatient Clinic program. Together with Yuka, and counselors Ken Lee, LCSW, and Cecilia Nepomuceno, PhD, RAMS is certainly keeping those students busy during the summer! Here's an update from Yuka about Summer Bridge:

"We received a great response of over 50 applicants--which was all through word of mouth! The 21 participants selected for Summer Bridge range in age from 15-19, come from all parts of the city, and reflect the diversity of the communities in San Francisco. We kicked off the program with a retreat, which featured a Ropes course at Fort Miley (check out the photos). Despite some initial grumbling, everyone had a great time pushing themselves past their comfort zone and getting to know each other in the process. It's hard to believe that we are already half way into the program! Time truly flies when you're having fun.

The participants in this pilot year of the program are a really focused, inquisitive group that is very open to learning and experiencing all we have to offer in the program. They have also repeatedly demonstrated their capacity to both challenge and support each other. We are really excited to be working with this amazing group of youth. It's even more exciting to think that they may go on to become our colleagues in the future. I am confident that they will be successful in whatever path they choose for themselves."

Quality time outdoors - what a great way to spend the summer!

Up high in the sky at the Ropes course

Thank you so much for the update and for sharing the pictures with us, Yuka!