Two Stories, One Outcome by Ruth Christine Dimagmaliw, LMFT

Meet Melody

She identifies as a 1.5-generation, Asian-American woman and is in her early 30’s. She currently lives in the Bay Area, CA as a project manager at a tech company and has been in her industry for nearly ten years. Melody works long nights and occasional weekends to finish projects at work. She strives to perform at top productivity and easily becomes frustrated and anxious when she makes mistakes and is unable to deliver her work at her best.

Melody enjoys going to the gym, running at her local trail, and rock climbing. But, she often has a difficult time finding the motivation to engage in these activities on a consistent basis. She is currently single and has been dating around for almost a year and has not found the right person to commit to a relationship with. Melody mostly spends time with her coworkers outside of work and rarely speaks with her parents, who live in another part of the Bay Area. She wonders if there is more to her life than work and wants to pursue her passion in graphic design.

Meet Alice, who identifies as a second-generation, Asian-American in her late 20’s.

She currently lives in San Diego, CA as a human resource manager for a venture capitalist organization and has been in her career for five years. Alice recently moved away from her parent’s home in San Francisco and is adjusting to life transitions, which include re-establishing boundaries with her immigrant parents. Her mother often calls her worried about her and often asks when she will move back to the area, get married, and have children.

Alice often feels stressed with her own interactions with her mother and wishes to establish boundaries with her. She often experiences the same interactions with her own partner of three years, as she often does not feel heard by him. Alice and her partner engage in verbal arguments weekly and feel that she needs to establish better boundaries with them too. She has a close group of friends she leans on when she feels overwhelmed, but most of them are back in San Francisco. Alice is yearning to find a space with women who share similar experiences.

Melody and Alice seek to live an authentic life and to be surrounded by a community who are supportive of their experiences.

They wish to find balance in navigating the turbulence of everyday life, often among familial and societal expectations and pressures, life transitions, and relationships with their immigrant parents. Both Melody and Alice wish to gain coping skills and manage their time to incorporate self-care practices into their daily routine. They desire to gain self-compassion within themselves and for other people.

They find this space in group counseling. A compassionate space where a community of women gathers together with the hopes of increasing their awareness and insight into their experiences. A group where the facilitator enables each participant to identify their strengths and explore various relationship dynamics with their immigrant parents and guided healing. Through this group counseling experience, these women will increase their ability to manage through the turbulence of everyday life with coping skills and explorations on how to live their lives authentically. Additionally, they walk away with new connections and friendships in the group.

Begin Working with An Asian American Therapist in San Ramon, CA

Working with an Asian American therapist can offer a perspective that understands the support you need. Sweet Mango Therapy is happy to offer support for residents of San Ramon, CA.  You can start learning new coping skills and living a healthy life. Start your healing journey today by following these three simple steps:

1. Contact us to schedule an appointment
2. Meet with one of our caring online trauma therapists
3. Start receiving the support you deserve!

Other Therapy Services at Sweet Mango Therapy Group

The team at Sweet Mango Therapy Group understands that you may have experienced more than one mental health concern at a time. This is why our team of skilled therapists offers a variety of other therapy services in addition to group therapy. We also offer services such as brainspotting, trauma counseling, anxiety therapy, depression counseling, and family therapy. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our services, reach out today! For more about us, please visit our blog or FAQ page.