Below are various resources and options to help you stay safe and well, especially during these challenging times.
This information is meant to serve as a resource only and is not an endorsement. AAPI Montclair encourages you to understand your options and reach out to these resources and determine who would work best for you and your family. Additional resources including self-defense courses will be shared in our Facebook group. If you would like to learn more or have a suggestion, email us at info@aapimontclair.org.
STAYING SAFE
- Read Stay Safe from Hate: How to Protect Yourself in Threatening Situations created by the Asian American Federation
- Attend a bystander training on how to prevent harassment and safe ways to intervene hosted by Hollaback or Asians Advancing Justice. The Organization of Chinese Americans also runs monthly situation awareness trainings.
- Plan for your safety through Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project’s Keeping Us Safe Toolkit
- Request whistles from the Yellow Whistle Campaign (available for local pick-up in Montclair, NJ email info@aapimontclair.org)
UPSTANDER INTERVENTION AND DE-ESCALATION TRAINING
Learn how to safely help someone who is experiencing a bias-related attack in this virtual workshop presented by the Center for Anti-Violence Education, Asian American Federation, and AAPI Montclair. First, learn the issues and situations around why some people treat others differently because of their race, who they love, or where their family comes from. Then practice bystander intervention and learn how to take safe actions that will help the person being targeted. The ultimate goal is to prevent, disrupt, and help victims heal from hate and sexual violence. View the English and Mandarin-translated recordings below.
English Recording
Mandarin Recording
AAPI NJ COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Download AAPI Montclair’s community resources guide with information about virtual support groups, additional ways to report bias incidents, mental health services, domestic violence resources, and more.
COMMUNITY HEALING
- Montclair Community Learning Circles on Race: Hosted by Montclair Foundation for Educational Excellence, Learning Circle members explore their individual understanding of racism and identify opportunities for personal and community accountability
- Yellow Chair Collective provides a virtual community space for Asian Americans to share their experiences, reflect and restore power.
- The Cosmos provides a virtual home for Asian American women to care for themselves and their community with supportive resources & virtual groups. Follow them on Instagram.
- Find a mental health provider on Psychology Today or ZocDoc.
Mental Health Resources
Finding a Mental Health Provider Workshop
In this informal workshop, Sweta Kansagra, LCSW, discusses the challenges and benefits of accessing mental health care for the Asian American community. She shares knowledge about how to find and what to look for in a provider, the different kinds of therapy available, how to think through your goals for therapy, and practical concerns from session frequency and duration to insurance coverage. (View the resources mentioned by Sweta during the workshop.)
Asian American Therapists in Northern NJ
- The Asian Mental Health Collective aspires to make mental health easily available, approachable, and accessible to Asian communities worldwide, with a directory of therapists of Asian heritage offering telehealth services.
https://www.asianmhc.org/
- TherapyStory is a team of licensed and dedicated therapists in Bloomfield, NJ. Their diverse clinicians, including Sweta Kansagra, LCSW, who has led AAPI Montclair’s mental health programming, offer an array of specialties based in perinatal mental health, couples work, and hypnotherapy. Learn more or book a consultation at therapystory.net.
- Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting offers AAPI-centered mental health care and education to the AAPI communities in PA and NJ. They accept most major insurances and offer both sliding scale and a lower rate for our graduate trainees. All sessions are virtual.
https://mangotreecc.com/
- Medicaid/Low-Cost Psychotherapy Resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1toog34mmxUcNVyhdcztZXrLO8vvjPBBT/
- Jude M. Uy, PhD, RYT
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
85 Park St. Suite 2J
Montclair, NJ 07042
ph/txt: 201-632-5833
email: jude@drjudeuy.com
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jude-m-uy-montclair-nj/336166
- Shefali Mittal • LCSW • Therapist
mindfulsolutionstherapy@gmail.com
908.388.9548
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/shefali-mittal-summit-nj/867448
- Talya Bauer
732.324.3188
www.puravidawellnesstherapy.com
- Kristy Champignon, LMHC, LPC, ACS, PMH-C
609-269-4732
www.meadowlarkcsc.com
kristy@meadowlarkcsc.com
Pronouns: she/her
- Rinku Shanker, Psy.D.
Serene Psychological Services LLC
500 Morris Ave. Suite 313
Springfield, NJ 07081
www.serenepsych.com
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/rinku-shanker-springfield-nj/443943
- Maisie Chou Chaffin, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist (NY/NJ)
87 Park Street
Montclair, NJ 07042 maisiepsyd@gmail.com
917-593-4001
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/maisie-chou-chaffin-new-york-ny/766623
- Pauline Montemayor, LCSW
H.O.P.E Psychotherapy Services, LLC
(862) 210-2055
www.hopepsychotherapynj.com
RESEARCH
- The Virulent Hate Project is an interdisciplinary research initiative that studies anti-Asian racism and Asian American activism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Stop AAPI Hate has released a National Report, a Mental Health Report, and more since March 2021.
Image Credit: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya