"Take Your Kung Flu Back to Wuhan" Counseling Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders With Race Based Trauma Related to COVID 19
Following the outbreak of COVID 19, reports of discrimination and violence against Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have increased substantially. The present article offers a timely conceptualization of how public and societal fears related to COVID 19 may contribute to unique mental health disparities and the presence of race based trauma among AAPIs residing in the United States. The relationships between media, increasing rates of xenophobia and sinophobia, and racial discrimination are provided. Next, the deleterious effects of race based discrimination on the emotional and physical well being of people of color and Indigenous groups (POCI) and AAPIs are described. Finally, the article identifies the clinical implications of counseling AAPI clients, encourages a decolonization of current trauma focused interventions, and presents specific strategies to heal race based trauma in AAPI client populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)