Intersections of Identities

Centralizing the psychology of sexual minority Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

“…Clients may enter services having felt unable to locate their experiences within a seemingly mutually exclusive relationship between mainstream sexual minority and API social narratives. Clinicians can normalize and reframe these concerns as a reaction to social structures that fail to accommodate intersecting identities (Bridges, Selvidge, & Matthews, 2003;Greene, 1994Greene, , 1996Ohnishi, Ibrahim, & Grzegorek, 2006). Reclaiming historical representation is central to healing in communities that have experienced colonialism, cultural erasure, and other types of systematic oppression (Watkins & Shulman, 2008).…”

“…Refining skills related to generalized sensitivity and self-efficacy may support clients in responding to shifting cultural frameworks (Hahm & Adkins, 2009). Clients may find it beneficial to also practice cognitive strategies (e.g., compartmentalization) and affect regulation in context of navigating internal and external multiplicities (Ohnishi et al, 2006). A specific (and commonly encountered) example might be to develop collaboratively a decision-making model in terms of considering the "outness paradox," and organizing various coming out strategies matched in accordance to issues unique to family and other environmental settings.…”

Counseling Muslim Americans: Cultural and Spiritual Assessments

“…With Muslim American clients, an effective counselor will also address the client's commitment to the religion to understand its impact on the client's worldview and ways of being. These Islam-specific dimensions are (a) commitment to Islam; (b) gender identity and its acceptance in terms of the faith; and (c) the interplay of nationality, ethnicity, culture, and race (Ohnishi, Ibrahim, & Grzegorek, 2007).…”

“…Two areas where a Westerner has the greatest likelihood of stumbling when trying to form a working alliance are male-female interactions and understanding the level of patriarchy in Muslim societies (Springer et al, 2009). The second pertains to an understanding of cultural and religious understanding of alternative sexual orientations (Ohnishi et al, 2007).…”

“…Another area of extreme conflict for Muslims is the self-identification as gay, lesbian, transsexual, or intersex. There are severe prohibitions in the religion about acknowledging gay or lesbian tendencies, and this creates an intense conflict in youth who come from traditional cultural contexts, especially if they are the children of immigrant families (Almeida, 2005;Ohnishi et al, 2007;Weinberg et al, 1996). The severity of confusion and conflict that can be created for an immigrant with alternative sexual orientations was exemplified in the movie based on the book My Beautiful Launderette (Qureishi, 1977).…”