Quang Duy Tran spent his childhood watching his older sister work with social workers, doctors, and various other physicians to help alleviate her health problems associated with a developmental disability.

As Tran got older, he decided he wanted to become a doctor to one day to help his sister. But before he got that opportunity, his sister was gone.

Social workers and nurses helped Tran through his grief, and it was then he realized physical health care included mental health.

Tran, who is Vietnamese American, now serves as a clinician with Asian Pacific Community Counseling, a nonprofit in Ramona Village that provides mental health services to Asian and Pacific Islanders. Today, he helps Sacramento residents with their mental health.

“I felt connected (to Asian Pacific Community Counseling), because the target population was (someone) I could give back to,” Tran said “I know there’s a need and a demand.”

Tran works with Asian Pacific Community Counseling’s Supporting Community Connections service, a suicide prevention outreach program that serves Cantonese, Hmong and Vietnamese residents in Sacramento.

Supporting Community Connections prioritizes wellness as a means of early suicide prevention, said Lakshmi Malroutu, chief operations officer for Asian Pacific Community Counseling. By providing services and events that clients enjoy, it promotes socialization and reduces feelings of isolation.

From weekly ballroom dancing, which is commonly enjoyed by older Vietnamese population, to tai chi, meditation and trips to religious temples and churches, Supporting Community Connections’ services seek to be non-intrusive, Malroutu said.

Hmong, Cantonese and Vietnamese are apart of the seven threshold languages in Sacramento, meaning they are popular primary languages spoken in the city besides English. Nationwide, 45% of Vietnamese people in the United States have limited English proficiency, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Sacramento has a one of the largest Vietnamese immigrant populations in the United States, according to the Migration Policy Institute. More than 20,000 Vietnamese immigrants live in Sacramento County.

The Sacramento-Roseville region has an Asian and Pacific Islander population of more than 300,000. Despite the large Asian communities in Sacramento, these groups are significantly underserved with mental health resources, said Malroutu. Counselors don’t always speak a patient’s primary language or are ill-informed about their cultural beliefs.

There is a dire need for mental health services and suicide prevention for Asian and Pacific Islander communities. A 2018 report learned nearly 73% of Asian and Pacific Islander with a mental illness have not receive treatment. The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health found suicide was the leading cause of death for Asian and Pacific Islanders ages 15 to 24 in 2019.

While Asian communities receive significant support from their families and are resilient, they still need mental health resources. It was this gap gap in proper mental health care for Asian communities that prompted Asian Pacific Community Counseling’s founders to create the nonprofit.

The creation of Asian Pacific Community Counseling

Asian Pacific Community Counseling opened in 1976, when Asian women came to the United States as war brides and when refugees fled Vietnam, said Malroutu. A year prior to Asian Pacific Community Counseling’s creation, the fall of Saigon resulted in almost 2 million Vietnamese fleeing the country by boat, according to the National Bureau of Asian Research. More than 500,000 people had died or disappeared along the way.

Many came to Sacramento and cities alike. While some stayed in refugee camps, there was no resources to treat their severe trauma.

“Refugees are leaving their countries, with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs and a few things they can get,” Malroutu said. “Seeing the destruction all the way, until they can find refuge somewhere and having to leave everything that’s familiar, that’s a deeply rooted trauma that stays with them.”

And today, with a significant rise of anti-Asian hate attacks, this trauma peered out its ugly head again for many Asian refugees. Often this would cause patients not want to leave their homes out of fear, Malroutu said.

There is no cookie cutter way to treat every patient, Tran said. But in order to understand a patient, it takes cultural competency, the understanding of one’s cultural, and cultural humility, the on-going willingness to learn from others.

Tran said he integrates a client’s religious beliefs during sessions. Sometimes he’ll pray with clients or keep in mind their own personal cultural beliefs.

“I’m somewhere between first and second generation Vietnamese American. I do know enough, but I’m no expert regarding every element or other cultures,” Tran said.

It also helps to have a counselor who looks like a client, Malroutu said. By having a clinician from the same background, it helps clients receive proper services and become more open to care.

“When we have counselors who look like them, who not only speak their language, but can do cultural appropriate (care), they understand therapy,” Malroutu said.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers free, anonymous help to anyone in crisis and their loved ones. Access the 24-hour hotline by calling or texting 988. A live chat is available at 988lifeline.org. WellSpace Health, which operates the universal service in the capital region, can also be reached at 916-368-3111 or by texting HOPE to 916-668-4226.