Decolonizing Mental Health Practice: Reconstructing an Asian-Centric Framework Through a Social Justice Lens

Mental health practices are fundamentally situated within systems of power and colonial hegemony and continue to be used as tools of neocolonialism in relation to Asian mental health. Mental health experiences of Asian American communities are characterized by disconnections from ancestral culture and land due to colonization, alienation from culturally and spiritually grounded mental health practices, racial trauma, intersectional oppression, and systemic inequities. Postcolonial discourse on Asian mental health is essential to addressing mental health disparities and concerns related to stigma of mental illness from a social justice perspective. In this paper, we deconstruct contemporary mental health practice by challenging European colonial hegemonic beliefs, addressing domination, discrimination, and systemic oppression, and reflecting on the erasure and appropriation of Asian values and traditional cultural practices. We recommend a postcolonial perspective that centers Asian experiences by responding to cultural mistrust, dissonance, and conflict, examining the matrix of domination through the lens of intersectionality, and shifting the therapist's positionality to prevent further perpetuation of neocolonial invalidation and trauma. We also propose an Asian-centric reconstruction of mental health practices that prioritize collectivistic values, (re)integrate religion and spirituality, and elevate recovery, resilience, and resistance. These mechanisms and processes are illustrated through diverse Asian American clinical case examples. What is the public significance of this article? This paper addresses the legacy of colonization and its impact on the mental health of Asian American communities. It provides a road map to decolonize and reconstruct the existing mental health practice framework through a social justice lens of postcolonialism. Centering Asian collectivistic values, (re)integrating religious and spiritual traditions, and elevating recovery, resilience, and resistance are discussed as ways to enhance clinical practice with Asian American communities.