Healing the Tigress

For this next episode, we were so excited to interview Susan Lieu, the Vietnamese American author of the moving memoir The Manicurist's Daughter. This debut memoir has been featured not only on Apple but in the New York Times, NPR books, Elle Magazine, LA Times, and the Washington Post. We talk with Susan about how losing her mother at a young age (11) was such a pivotal event in her life, that everything going forward went through the sieve of her mother's death, especially while she was becoming a mother herself. We discuss the impact of her mother's death from a botched tummy tuck and how that further exacerbated body image issues and conflicting relationship with food that Susan always grew up with.Susan shares with us how no one talked about her mother's death in the family after it happened, even to this day. As the youngest of 4, she said she was always shut down when she wanted to hear more details about her mother's death, so she had no one to turn to when trying to learn more about her mother.The conversation is rich with themes of grief, motherhood, body positivity, and mental health. We talk about many parts of the Asian American experience as a child of immigrants/refugees and break down how Susan did the work to heal from generational trauma before being ready to become a mom--particularly also chasing her dreams of being a performer first. We know this episode will resonate with many who are navigating relationships with their parents as they become parents themselves and who are trying to heal their inner child. Please join us for this riveting conversation!Besides being an author, Susan is also a playwright, a performer, a TEDx speaker, a podcaster, and a cofounder of Socola Chocolatier. She has a degree in Social Studies from Harvard College and an MBA from Yale School of Management. You can find more of Susan at:Instagram: @susanlieu, @celadonbooks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanlieuofficialTikTok: @susanlieuofficialLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlieu/Podcast: Model Minority Moms-- https://modelminoritymoms.com/Website: https://www.susanlieu.me/TedEx Talk: Making Peace With Your Belly Fat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=al0Jw_9b06YNote: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Trigger Warning: We will be discussing pregnancy loss in this episode.In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Month, we wanted to share the story of our next guest, Eileen Santos Rosete. Eileen is Filipino American and it's fitting she is our guest this month too, as October is also Filipino American History Month. She holds a master of science in marriage and family therapy, is certified as a DONA International postpartum doula, trauma-informed yoga teacher and grief educator. Her brand, Our Sacred Woman, is known for its elevated offerings that help women feel seen, held, and honored. Her debut book is titled “To Tend & To Hold: Honoring Our Bodies, Our Needs and Our Grief Through Pregnancy and Infant Loss,” which just launched today!In this episode, Eileen shares her story of suffering two losses following the birth of her first child. She explains the nuances of grief in her personal story and how each of the losses were different, how she was supported or not in both cases, and how she came to realize that while losing her babies, she was actually in labor and delivering them too. We talk about how the losses also impacted her future pregnancies and subsequent living babies, and we also talk about her experience with postpartum depression and anxiety. We also talk about how being a person of color played a role in her journey. Eileen gives us a raw and vulnerable discussion about loss and how the healing journey looked for her, as well as the new resource on loss that she has created for new mothers to come.  Find more of Eileen at:Website: https://www.eileensantosrosete.com/Instagram: @oursacredwomenBook Preorder Links: https://www.eileensantosrosete.com/to-tend-and-to-hold-bookOther Resources:Free PSI Online Support Groups for Loss: https://www.postpartum.net/get-help/psi-online-support-meetings/?_search=lossNote: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Today's guest has a personal story behind it, and we're very honored to have on Sia Clyde, an influential mommy fitness blogger and NASM-certified personal trainer! When Jasmine (one of our show's co-hosts) was in the depths of her postpartum depression and insomnia, her husband sent her an email late one night with some blog posts talking about postpartum depression and medications. At the time, Jasmine was really worried about started antidepressants, even as a pharmacist. But reading some of these blogs at 4am one night was helpful, and the one that stood out the most to her was Sia's blog post--largely due to the fact that Sia was the only one who looked remotely Asian American and was also previously a nurse.So, 5 years later, it's been very full circle for Jasmine to have a chance to interview Sia on our podcast for Asian American maternal mental health! Sia shares with us that she is a quarter Korean American, but somehow that quarter went a long way for Jasmine! Representation truly does matter. In our interview, we discuss Sia's journey from nursing to becoming a mom to becoming a NASM-certified personal trainer. She tells us about her journeys with postpartum depression with her first and second child and how she used medications and therapy to heal. We talk in depth about how Sia used antidepressants during pregnancy and post-pregnancy, as well as the stigma of medications. Sia also openly shares that at first she wasn't sure about therapy and opted to do medications first. But later, she realized how powerful therapy was for her and has been doing it ever since 5 months postpartum with her daughter.Currently, Sia is pregnant with her third child and still taking steps to protect her mental health during this pregnancy. We hope that this episode will help other moms remember that taking medications is not a weakness and that it can be a helpful tool in getting through postpartum depression.Resources:Podcast Episode referenced: Episode 17: Debunking Myths About Perinatal Psychiatric Medications with Dr. Niya Dhand, MDSia's Blog Post that Jasmine read: https://diaryofafitmommy.com/the-brutal-truth-about-postpartum-depression/Find more of Sia:Instagram: @diaryofafitmommyofficialBlog: https://diaryofafitmommy.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiaryofaFitMommyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thesiabia1Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Maternal suicide is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the U.S. and up to 20% of maternal deaths are due to suicide. People of color are more likely to report suicidal ideation in the immediate postpartum period as compared to their white counterparts, with Asian women cited as 9x more likely.Yet, we don't hear about the stories as much. This is why it is so important to continue the conversation about maternal suicide. For the month of September, we like to honor National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month with an episode on this difficult but crucial topic. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode will discuss maternal suicide, which may be difficult or distressing for some of our listeners. Your mental health matters and we fully support doing what you need to do to take care of yourself. This space will be here if you ever wish to come back at a different time to listen.Last year, our most listened to episode by far was Episode 2-Break the Stigma for Nima: A Conversation on Maternal Suicide with Priya Bhakta and we were blown away that people were open to listening to a hard topic and conversation. So this year, we have with us Deven Bhakta, the late Nima Bhakta's husband, to tell his side of the journey.Nima Bhakta was a South Asian mother lost to maternal suicide on July 24, 2020 after suffering from postpartum depression. Her legacy lives on as her family chose to talk publicly about her story and call it what it was--suicide--in hopes of helping other families out there who may be going through similar struggles. And her story has saved lives, within mere hours of sharing her story. In AAPI communities, the topic of suicide can be so taboo, but this generation of parents is realizing that the stigma of mental health illness and seeking help for it is more harmful than helpful. Deven reflects with us about some of the signs that may have been red flags and how Indian American families can be both blessings and curses. We talk about how he has coped and healed from the loss of Nima as well as other family members in his life during the same year. Deven talks about finding his way to therapy and how he continues to heal and raise their little boy. He discusses what they do each year to honor Nima's legacy and raise awareness and funds to donate to organizations focused on supporting maternal mental health and AAPI mental health. For more information and to connect with Nima's story:Episode 2 with Nima's sister, Priya BhaktaInstagram: @breakthestigma4nimaResources (call or text):National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:  988 National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-852-626 (833-TLC-MAMA)Postpartum Support International Hotline: 1-800-944-4773Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring tSend us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

One of the things we really wanted to make sure to do on Healing the Tigress was to be as inclusive as possible of all our AAPI folks’ stories. And that also means we want to make sure to highlight stories of AAPI LGBTQ+ parents and their mental health as well.  For our first guest of this season, we were very excited to have the popular wedding and elopement photographer and former cardiac ICU RN, Henry Tieu (@henrysdiary), to talk about his journey with IVF/international surrogacy with his partner to bring home their twin babies this year! We discuss the challenges and benefits of international surrogacy, the financial investment especially as self-employed fathers, the emotional toll of going through not one but two rounds of IVF and surrogates, and more. We talk about the importance of representation--both from the AAPI community and LGBTQ+ community. We discuss the need for more resources and inclusivity in society's set up and language for our LGBTQ+ couples to becoming parents. Henry also talks about how being authentic and true to self was really important for his mental health, especially when sharing on social media about his sexuality and announcing about his children. We loved this heartfelt episode and discussion to bring more awareness to the journey of parenthood for same sex couples. We're also huge fans of Henry's photography so make sure you check him out online too! Find more of Henry at:www.instagram.com/henrysdiaryResources:PSI Queer & Trans Parent Support Group: https://www.postpartum.net/group/queer-trans-parent-support-group/Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please take a moment to RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much! =)Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

For our season finale, we are joined by the wonderful Dr. Kalena Kaopuuokalani Lanuza, who is a doctorally prepared Certified Family and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Certified Lactation Counselor. She specializes in reproductive psychiatric mental health and cares for Native Hawaiian and Pasifika wāhine (women) in Hawai'i and throughout the diaspora in Washington, Oregon and California.Dr. Kalena opens up to us in this episode about her own journey to becoming a mother, after years of being an NICU nurse, only to discover the difficulties of postpartum anxiety and postpartum OCD. This pushed her into her current work, where she is able to provide perinatal support for other makuahine, or mothers, especially kanaka maoli or Native Hawaiians--like herself.She graciously shares with us about the history of oppression and colonialism in the islands of Hawai'i and how this generational trauma plays a huge role in the perinatal care of many Native Hawaiian and Pasifika women, whether in Hawai'i or on the mainland. We learn about the importance of cultural congruency especially in perinatal mental health care, how to both honor and understand where we come from and how it plays a role in our current mental health.This rich episode also teaches us how to be respectful stewards of the lands we live on, remembering the history of those before us and what was lost, from both a physical home to erasure of language and culture.Find more of Dr. Kalena at:Mana Mental HealthInstagram: @mana_mental_HealthResources from this episode:Kalauokekahuli: https://www.kalauokekahuli.org/Pale wāhine & La'au Lapa'au: Pua O Eleili Pinto of Ēwe 'Oia'i'o: IG @eweoiaio Perinatal Nutrition:  Ke'alohi Naipo of Naipo Nutrition: https://kealohi-naipo.mykajabi.com/Northern CA: Mana Pasifika: https://www.sisterweb.org/mana-pasefikaWashington: Pilimakua Family Connections: https://www.hummingbird-ifs.org/programs/pilimakuaWashington: Pacific Islander Health Board of Washington: Doula's/ lactation/ pregnancy support groupsThis episode is dedicated to Jasmine Del Mar. A hui hou. We miss you.Special thank you to Dr. Tony Huynh, PharmD for helping us sound mix our introduction dedication. You can find him on Instagram @toneymixes.Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much!Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

For Father's Day and Men's Mental Health Month, we wanted to get another AAPI dad on the show to talk about their experience in fatherhood in relationship to mental health. Joining us for this episode is Dr. Matt Dinh, PharmD, who is a Vietnamese American father of two and a pharmacist by trade. Matt talks to us about how his wife did not experience any postpartum mental health disorders, but he himself started experiencing some mild depression when his eldest child was in some challenging toddler years.When some of these feelings of self-doubt and questions about his worth started affecting the relationships with people that he loved, Matt realized he needed to look for help. We talk about Matt's experience with therapy and what things have helped him improve his mental health over time. Matt tells us how by sharing his experience, no matter how brief, he was also able to inspire other family members to potentially look into therapy too. It's likely underreported, but 1 in 10 dads actually can experience postpartum depression too. We discuss how entering fatherhood really was the catalyst for Matt to truly see the importance of addressing mental health. In AAPI communities, mental health is already a hard enough topic to bring up, but especially for AAPI males and dads, being able to admit needing help seems to be even more difficult. It also seems this generation of AAPI males and dads are starting to take charge of their mental health more. Matt's conversation goes over how parenting forces everyone to start looking closely at themselves and how we want and need to show up for our kids. We hope that this episode helps others see that men also are affected during the postpartum period and perhaps start conversations for others to check in with their dad friends and offer support too.Find Matt at Instagram: @maddenstylesResources:Free PSI Dad Support Group: https://www.postpartum.net/group/dad-support-group/Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much!Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Infertility impacts one in six people of reproductive age and nearly one in four female physicians who are trying to have a baby face infertility issues. This statistic is no mystery to our guest, Dr. Joyce Park, who many of you may know as @TeaWithMD on social media. Joyce's journey with IVF began when her firstborn was just 18 months old, after trying for a second child for quite some time, doctors determined she had infertility. Her and her husband decided they would pursue IVF while also trying to move from the Bay Area California to Seattle, Washington.Joyce opens up with us in this episode about how lonely the journey of IVF can be, how it can take its toll on one's marriage, but how finding ways to include your partner as well as relying on her faith helped her push through to the end. Now, on the other side with beautiful Mei Mei, Joyce is hoping that sharing her story will allow other mothers going through IVF know they are not alone. Dr. Joyce Park is a board-certified dermatologist based in Washington, founder of SkinRefinery, a teledermatology clinic, and creator of Tea With MD. She is a second generation Taiwanese American and attended college and medical school at Stanford University, while completing her dermatology residency at NYU. She has a background in medical journalism, having worked at NBC News and ABC News in their medical units. For more of Joyce's personal IVF journey story, ⁠watch here on Youtube⁠Instagram: @TeaWithMDPodcast: Spilling the Tea with Dr. JoyceResources mentioned:Dr. Lora ShahineDr. Natalie CrawfordSpecial Thanks: Today’s episode was brought to you by the editing support of Dr. Tony Huynh, PharmD. Thank you again, Tony, for lending your editing expertise and prowess to today’s episode! While Tony is a pharmacist and dad by day, he’s actually a DJ extraordinaire by night! You can check out his work at @toneymixes on Instagram.Note: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much!Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

Bipolar disorder affects 2-3% of the general population, and about half of the women with bipolar disorder are first diagnosed in the postpartum period. In today's episode, we talk with a mother with lived experience of bipolar 1 disorder and how it affected her journey to and through motherhood.Michelle Yang is third generation ethnic Chinese born in South Korea, and she immigrated to the U.S. when she was 9. She is a mental health advocate and writer whose writings on the intersection of Asian American identity, body image, and mental health have been featured in NBC News, CNN, InStyle, Shondaland, Reader’s Digest, HuffPost, and more. She was a former editor at InStyle and Shape. Her memoir, PHOENIX GIRL: HOW A FAT ASIAN WITH BIPOLAR FOUND LOVE is forthcoming from Fifth Avenue Press in January 2025. In our episode today, Michelle tells us the story of how she was first diagnosed with Bipolar 1 Disorder at the age of 20. We discussed how Michelle had always wanted to be a mom, but she had to grapple with her diagnosis and what that meant. She decided her bipolar disorder was not going to limit her in her ability to live her life the way she wanted to, especially once she was in a loving marriage, financially secure, and mentally well for a prolonged period of time.Michelle walks us through her process of therapy and assembling the right medical team before becoming pregnant, highlighting the challenges along the way--including some insensitive providers who told her she should just not have biological children. We talk about her medications and what it was like during pregnancy leading up to a traumatic birth. Then we talk about how she managed in postpartum when her symptoms came back, particularly with depression and guilt over not breastfeeding because she had to take care of her mental health.This is a deeply moving and thought-provoking conversation about how mental health can be both stigmatized and dramatized, but at the end of the day, people living with mental health disorders also need to know that they can still thrive with their conditions. We hope you will tune in to this beautiful discussion of triumph over stigmas.Find more of Michelle:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleyangwriter/Website: https://www.livingwellhappily.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelleyangwriterBOOK: Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found LoveNote: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers' own. This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional/medical advice. If you need more support or advice, please reach out to your own medical professional who can answer your questions with your individual medical history and background in context.Please RATE and REVIEW our show if you enjoy the episodes we bring to you! It helps others to find our show when you do. Thanks so much!Send us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)

For Maternal Mental Health Month, we knew we wanted to have a discussion on medications in the perinatal period. Because as much as AAPI folks can be reluctant to do therapy, they can also be just as wary about taking medications. But sometimes medications can play an important role in recovery, just like therapy can. So we wanted to talk with an expert on the psychiatric medications used during the perinatal period to dispel myths and empower our community to learn and ask about medications with their providers.Joining us on today's episode is Dr. Niya Dhand, MD--a double fellowship-trained, double board-certified reproductive psychiatrist. Dr. Dhand went to medical school at Ohio State University and went on to complete her psychiatry residency at Cleveland Clinic. Then she did an addiction Psychiatry fellowship at Yale, where she focused specifically on treatment of addiction in women.After a tragic second trimester pregnancy loss followed by a painful battle with infertility, Dr. Dhand went back and completed a Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry fellowship at Northwestern University, where she received in depth education and clinical experience in treating psychiatric conditions during pre-menses, infertility and loss, pregnancy, postpartum and perimenopause.In this episode, Dr. Dhand helps us clarify information on safety of medications like SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressant/antianxiety medications in breastfeeding, during pregnancy, and in postpartum. We talk about the risk of untreated illness versus the risk that medications could bring. People often don't realize that untreated illness also carries a risk of harm to the fetus. For example, there is a small risk of miscarriage with untreated depression, but that risk is not present when you are taking an SSRI antidepressant.Dr. Dhand also talks about the two real main concerns of SSRIs during pregnancy--neonatal adaptation syndrome and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. She breaks down what these things mean and what the real risk actually is in numbers. (Spoiler: it's pretty small!) We talk about how and when someone might consider starting medications, whether or not SSRIs are "addicting," if Zoloft is really "the best choice" of antidepressants to start for pregnant and postpartum women. This episode goes in depth about the data, risks, and benefits of the most common psychiatric medications we think of during the perinatal period, but it by no means covers everything. Much of this information is shared transparently not to scare, but hopefully having some knowledge of what is truly important to look out for will empower our moms in their discussions with a provider to find a good fit if medications are in the picture.Resources mentioned:Mother to Baby: https://mothertobaby.org/LactMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK501922/Find Dr. Niya Dhand at:Instagram: www.instagram.com/drniyadhandPSI Provider Directory ListingSend us your thoughts!Support the show✨ If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast for access to more bonus episodes, please click here for Buzzsprout Subscriptions! Once subscribed, you can use an RSS feed to listen from any of your podcast platforms. Thanks in advance for your support, as this really helps us keep the show going! ❤️ (Think of it like buying us a boba...to share! 😉🧋)