Understanding Korean Americans' Mental Health: A Guide to Culturally Competent Practices, Program Developments, and Policies - Paperback

by Soonok An (Contribution by), Jung Sim Jun (Contribution by), Sharon Jung (Contribution by)

The Korean American community is one of the major Asian ethnic subgroups in the United States. Though considered among one of the model minority groups, excelling academically and professionally, members in this community are plagued by unaddressed mental health obstacles. In Understanding Korean Americans' Mental Health: A Guide to Culturally Competent Practices, Program Developments, and Policies, the editors, Anderson Sungmin Yoon, Sung Seek Moon, and Haein Son, examine a variety of mental health issues in the Korean American community, including depression, suicide, substance abuse, and trauma, and convincingly connect these challenges to cultural stigma and racial prejudice.

The editors argue that this population and its mental health needs are neglected by current approaches in mainstream mental health services. Alarmingly, the very cultural values that help make up the Korean American community are contributing to its members' reluctance to seek care, counting both familial and communal shame among the most pressing culprits. This book supports these claims with statistical realities and seeks to gather the relatively scarce research that does exist on this topic to underscore the heightened prevalence of mental health issues among Korean Americans, and the contributors make recommendations for more culturally competent practices, program developments, and policies.

Author Biography

Anderson Sungmin Yoon is assistant professor of social work at Nyack College and VP of integrated and value-based care at The Child Center of NY.
Sung Seek Moon is professor and Carl and Martha Lindner Endowed Chair for Global Studies at Baylor University.
Haein Son isa licensed clinical social worker and external review director at New York City Children's Center.