Breathe. Your story is welcome here. We get you.
Welcome to Yellow Chair Collective, a group therapy practice specializing in Asian American mental health.
We understand the unique experiences and daily struggles that many Asian and Asian Americans navigate—including cultural expectations, immigration stressors, identity, belonging, and intergenerational trauma.
Our therapists come from diverse backgrounds. Some are first- or second-generation Asian Americans, while others have grown up in multicultural or multiracial families. No matter where you’re starting from, we meet you with understanding and care.
You’re not alone—and you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.
Our culturally responsive therapists are mindful of the balance you need—honoring both the shared experiences many Asian Americans face and the uniqueness of your individual story.
If you’re looking for a therapist who truly understands the Asian American experience, you’ve found the right place.
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Here are some of the issues that our therapists are adept in exploring:
- Mental health stigma
- Immigration trauma
- Intergenerational trauma
- Racial trauma
- Family dynamics issues
- Cultural grief
- Cultural and language barriers
- Bicultural, multicultural, & interracial marriages & relationships
- Multicultural & Multiracial Asian Identity
- ADHD, autism, & navigating neurodivergence as an Asian American
- Transracial Asian adoptees
Mental Health Stigma
For many in the Asian American community, mental health is a relatively new concept. You may have grown up in a family where emotional struggles were minimized, dismissed, or simply never named. Therapy might have been seen as something only “crazy people” needed. Expressing sadness, anger, or fear may have been discouraged, and crying could have been met with silence or shame.
We understand how much strength it takes to seek support, especially when your upbringing may have taught you to keep it all in. Choosing to explore your mental health is a powerful act of courage—and we want to honor that.
Mental health matters. It shapes the way you see yourself, the choices you make, and the relationships you build. Prioritizing it is not a weakness. It is strength. It is hope. It is healing.
We’re so glad you’re here. And we’re honored to walk alongside you.
Immigration Trauma
Immigrating to a new country can bring a deep sense of loss and disorientation. You’ve left behind your language, your community, and your sense of safety—trying to build a life in a place that may not fully see or understand you. The pressure to adapt while staying connected to your traditions and roots can feel overwhelming and lonely.
Even if you didn’t immigrate yourself, growing up as a child of immigrants means you likely still felt the weight of that journey. Maybe you witnessed your parents’ quiet sacrifices, their fear, or their silence around pain. Maybe you were the translator, the bridge, the one who carried the emotional labor of helping your family survive in a new land.
Immigration trauma isn’t just about moving countries. It’s about what gets lost, what has to be hidden, and what never gets named. We’re here to offer a space where you can begin to untangle that pain—whether it’s yours, inherited, or both. You deserve room to process, heal, and reconnect with who you are beyond survival. Let us support you in that journey.
Intergenerational Trauma
Have you ever wondered why your upbringing felt so different from your non-Asian American peers? Or how the way you were raised still shows up in your relationships, your parenting, or the way you see the world?
Trauma can have an impact for multiple generations
Trauma doesn’t start or end with one person. The pain and resilience carried by previous generations often get passed down—shaping the way we relate to others, how we respond to stress, and even how we love. This can affect the relationships between parents and children, shaping how we express love, set boundaries, and respond to conflict. You may find yourself repeating patterns you didn’t choose, or holding beliefs that no longer serve you.
As children of immigrants or descendants of those impacted by war, displacement, grief and loss, or cultural silence, many of us grew up with emotional undercurrents we couldn’t name. It’s not your fault—but it can stop with you.
Our therapists are here to help you recognize the behavioral and relational patterns that were passed down. At Yellow Chair Collective, we will explore where those beliefs and actions come from, how they’ve shaped you, and what you’d like to carry forward. Healing intergenerational trauma isn’t about blaming the past—it’s about choosing something different for the future.
Racial Trauma
About 80% of Asian Americans report that they don’t feel a strong sense of belonging in the U.S. (STAATUS, 2023). This isn’t just a statistic—it’s a reflection of the emotional and psychological burden that many in our community carry.
Racial trauma refers to the emotional wounds caused by experiences of racism, discrimination, and cultural erasure. For Asian Americans, this often includes being seen as perpetual foreigners, facing stereotypes, navigating microaggressions, and feeling the pressure to stay silent in environments that don’t fully understand or reflect who we are. It can also be passed down across generations, especially when emotional pain is never named or addressed.
The recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes throughout the pandemic resurfaced many of these long-standing wounds. It reminded us that, despite decades of trying to belong, we are still often seen as outsiders. Many of us began moving through the world with more fear, more hypervigilance, and more grief.
But racial trauma doesn’t only show up in moments of public violence. It’s in the everyday racism we experience at work, in school, in our communities—even among those closest to us. It’s in the subtle comments, the constant code-switching, the exhaustion of feeling invisible or misunderstood. Over time, these experiences can shape how we see ourselves, relate to others, and carry our pain.
At Yellow Chair Collective, we understand this deeply. Many of our therapists share these lived experiences and are passionate about offering a space where you don’t have to explain or minimize what you’re feeling. Our directors, Linda Yoon and Soo Jin Lee, have even written a book on this very topic—Where I Belong: Healing Trauma and Embracing Asian American Identity—to give language and validation to the complex layers of racial trauma that often go unnamed.
Here, you’ll find a space where your story matters. We’re here to help you explore how racial trauma has shaped your journey and support you in reconnecting with your sense of safety, dignity, and belonging. Healing is possible—and you don’t have to do it alone.
Family Dynamic Issues
Tension within families is not uncommon, especially in Asian American households where different generations have grown up with very different life experiences. These challenges are often rooted in cultural differences, unspoken expectations, and a lack of shared language—both literal and emotional.
First-generation parents may have grown up with values shaped by survival, sacrifice, and tradition, while their children are navigating a different culture with different norms. This can lead to misunderstandings, emotional distance, and patterns that feel hard to break.
You might be a parent trying to understand your child’s choices, or an adult child feeling stuck between honoring your family and creating your own path. You might find yourself having the same arguments, avoiding hard conversations, or feeling like you’re speaking different emotional languages altogether.
At Yellow Chair Collective, we support families in working through these dynamics with compassion and clarity. We help you better understand one another’s perspectives, strengthen communication, and move toward more meaningful connection.
Family healing is possible—not by erasing differences, but by learning how to meet each other with empathy, curiosity, and care. We’re here to help you begin that process.
Cultural Grief
Cultural grief is the quiet, often unspoken sadness that comes with feeling disconnected from your heritage, your traditions, or your cultural identity. It can show up when you’re mourning the loss of a parent or grandparent, especially if they were your strongest link to your family’s country of origin. It can also arise simply from noticing how far you feel from the language, rituals, or values you grew up around—or wished you had.
For many who have immigrated to the United States or grown up as children of immigrants, this grief can feel layered and complex. Losing a loved one can feel like losing a part of yourself, a piece of your history. And even without a specific loss, there may be a sense of mourning for the parts of your culture that feel like they’re slipping away over time.
It can be heartbreaking to realize you no longer speak your family’s language fluently, or that certain traditions have faded. This grief is real, and it deserves care.
At Yellow Chair Collective, our culturally attuned Asian American therapists understand these nuanced experiences. We’re here to hold space for your grief, your memories, and your questions. Whether you’re seeking to reconnect, to honor what you’ve lost, or to decide what parts of your culture you want to carry forward—we are here to support you.
Cultural grief doesn’t always have a clear solution, but together we can explore what healing might look like for you. You don’t have to navigate this alone.
Cultural & Language Barriers
Immigrating to a new country is challenging. It means learning to navigate cultural differences and language barriers. This can be confusing, overwhelming, and anxiety-provoking.
You may wonder, what is socially acceptable in the U.S.? Is it weird to dress this way? How much should I acclimate, and how much of my culture should I keep? These are valid questions that don’t exactly have a ‘right’ or a ‘wrong’ answer.
Regardless of how long you have been in the U.S., you may find yourself feeling nervous at times. Perhaps you’re uncomfortable or frustrated in certain contexts or situations. Our Asian and Asian American therapists are here to listen to your concerns. Through therapy, we provide you with support in your native language. And it can be easier to navigate these barriers in your first language. We are here to help you find a balance between your culture and the broader culture around you, in a way that works for you.
At YCC, we can provide therapy in the following languages:
- Mandarin
- Korean
- Cantonese
- Vietnamese
- Japanese
- Malay
- Hindi
- Urdu
- Farsi
- Spanish
- And growing!
Bicultural, Multicultural, and Interracial Marriages and Relationships
All relationships take intention, communication, and care. When partners come from different cultural, racial, or language backgrounds, it can bring both richness and complexity to the relationship.
You and your partner may have different values, communication styles, or ways of navigating conflict. What feels natural to one person may feel unfamiliar or confusing to the other. Even everyday decisions can bring up misunderstandings or deeper cultural tensions, especially when family and cultural expectations are involved.
In many Asian and collective cultures, relationships are not just between two individuals but between two families. Extended families and in-laws often play a significant role, and navigating their expectations, boundaries, and traditions can add another layer of complexity. These dynamics can be especially challenging when shaped by generational and cultural differences.
Our therapists bring a thoughtful and culturally responsive lens to support you and your partner in exploring these dynamics. Together, we can identify patterns that are causing disconnection, explore unresolved concerns, and strengthen your ability to communicate with care. Whether you are learning to embrace each other’s differences or navigating shared challenges, we are here to help you move forward with greater understanding, curiosity, and respect.
Multicultural & Multiracial Asian Identity
Being of mixed Asian identity can come with a unique set of challenges. Whether you are biracial, multiracial, or come from a multicultural family, you may find yourself navigating complex questions of belonging, identity, and acceptance. You might feel like you don’t fully fit into any one culture—and at times, feel pressure to choose sides or explain who you are.
These experiences can be confusing, isolating, and emotionally exhausting. You may feel too Asian in some spaces and not Asian enough in others. Or you may carry the weight of conflicting cultural expectations, family dynamics, or unspoken assumptions about how you “should” act, look, or live.
At Yellow Chair Collective, we understand how layered identity exploration can be—especially for those with multicultural and multiracial backgrounds. Our therapists are here to support you in unpacking these complexities with compassion and care. Together, we can help you explore your story, honor the full range of your cultural experiences, and reclaim your right to belong just as you are. You do not have to prove or explain your identity to anyone. You are already whole.
South Asian therapist who understands cultural identity
Growing up South Asian often means living between worlds. There may be pride in your culture, love for your family, and deep values you hold close. But there might also be pressure to achieve, to stay quiet, to put others first, and to never let things appear messy. Whether you were born here or immigrated later in life, these experiences can shape how you see yourself, your relationships, and what it means to ask for help.
You might feel the weight of expectations around success, marriage, caregiving, or what it means to be a good daughter, son, or partner. It can be hard to express your needs without guilt or to navigate boundaries in a family where connection is everything. Maybe you’ve even asked yourself if you’re allowed to want something different.
At Yellow Chair Collective, we offer therapy that meets you where you are. Our South Asian therapists understand the layers of cultural identity and the quiet struggles that are often carried in silence. You won’t have to explain why family dynamics feel complicated or why speaking up feels hard. We hold space for all of it—your relationship with community expectations, generational wounds, faith or spirituality, and the hope for something better.
We work with individuals, couples, and families to make room for healing, growth, and honest conversations. This is a place to untangle what no longer serves you and to reconnect with what does. We’re here to walk with you as you explore what healing looks like on your terms.
ADHD, Autism, and Navigating Neurodivergence as an Asian American
Navigating neurodivergence as an Asian American can come with quiet and often invisible challenges. You may have grown up in a home where emotions were not openly talked about and where differences in behavior, learning, or communication were met with confusion or even judgment. You might have been called lazy, too sensitive, or too much when really you were just overwhelmed or trying to cope in the ways that made sense to you.
Maybe you have always related to the world a little differently. You might process things more deeply, need more time to recover, or find it hard to meet certain expectations. These differences can feel isolating, especially in environments that prioritize academic success, emotional control, or keeping up appearances.
At Yellow Chair Collective, we understand how cultural norms and family dynamics shape the experience of being neurodivergent. Whether you are exploring ADHD, autism, or another diagnosis, we offer a space where your story is seen and supported. You do not have to hide or explain. Together, we can unlearn shame, better understand your nervous system, and build a life that honors how your mind and body move through the world.
Exploring Intersecting Identities as an Asian American
Being Asian American often means carrying multiple stories at once. You may be navigating the complexity of your cultural identity while also exploring what it means to be neurodivergent, disabled, LGBTQIA+, or part of another marginalized group. It can be hard to find spaces where all of who you are is understood, especially when some parts of your identity are stigmatized or rarely talked about in your family or community.
At Yellow Chair Collective, we offer a space where you can explore these intersections safely and without judgment. Our team includes Asian American therapists from diverse backgrounds and specialties, many of whom bring both lived experience and clinical understanding of what it means to hold multiple identities. Whether you are seeking support with self-acceptance, navigating family relationships, or finding your voice, we are here to walk alongside you.
You shouldn’t have to educate your therapist.
You deserve to feel seen from the start and honored for your story. At Yellow Chair Collective, you won’t need to downplay the unique pressures you carry as an Asian American or decode your family dynamics. Many of our Asian American therapists bring both professional expertise and lived experience, already attuned to the unspoken weight of navigating multiple identities.
Our team reflects a wide range of backgrounds, specialties, and approaches—so you can find a therapist who gets you.
We’re here to offer more than just coping tools. We offer a space where you can show up as your full self, without judgment or translation. A space to breathe, reflect, and reconnect with who you are beneath all the expectations.
Getting Started with YCC Asian American Therapy in Los Angeles, CA or New York City, NY
The YCC Asian American therapist who sits across from you resonates with your journey and hardship. Our therapists are knowledgeable in issues that pertain to the Asian American community. We understand your struggles while also honoring your unique experiences. We are with you in solidarity as mental health professionals. Also, as fellow Asian Americans who have experienced our own struggles. If you’re ready to get started with one of our therapists, please follow these steps. To get started with our Los Angeles and New York City-based therapy practice, (now also able to assist with online therapy in New York!), follow the steps below:
- Request an appointment using the prompt below or our contact form.
- Begin meeting with a culturally sensitive therapist.
- Begin your journey of understanding your Asian American identity.
Schedule your first session with us today!
Other Services at Yellow Chair Collective
