Self Studies: Recent Episodes
Alma
Self Studies is a podcast miniseries by Alma (helloalma.com) that explores how identity and unique cultural challenges inform a person’s experiences in life and in mental health.
In religious communities, it's not uncommon for mental health issues to be viewed as spiritual shortcomings. People are encouraged to pray away issues like depression, and the line between religious teachings and cultural practices can be blurred. For religious clients, finding a clinician who understands their culture firsthand can be essential to building trust. In this episode, Alma member Zeina Alturk, LMHC, speaks about religious and cultural norms in Islamic communities and community outreach as a tool against mental health stigma.
For many adoptees, identity development involves integrating their birth culture with their adoptive culture. Among transracial adoptees, it's not uncommon for this exploration to happen later in life, and to come with feelings of grief and loss. In this episode, Alma member Grace Huntley, LMHC, addresses adoptive identity formation, grieving a birth culture, and the interplay of identity and career development.
Privilege takes many forms and is determined and dictated by the community in which an individual finds themselves. The privilege one has at home may be different from the privilege they have at work. In both cases, identity-based privilege can shape an individual's mental health and sense of self. In this episode, Alma member April Grigsby, LCSW, speaks about defining and managing privilege, code-switching, and ways that therapists can better understand the many layers of identity that clients bring into the therapy space.
It's impossible to separate individuals from the contexts in which they live. Bringing social justice into the therapy space allows clinicians and their clients to better understand how social norms shape their lived experiences and how to better advocate for their needs. In this episode, Alma member Estefanie Ceballo, LMHC, speaks about intersectionality, social justice counseling, and the importance of talking about identity in therapy.
The field of psychology is overwhelmingly white, and a handful of researchers are introducing Afrocentric frameworks for treating and diagnosing Black individuals. In spite of this, a legacy of medical abuse has left many in Black communities skeptical of any and all healthcare. In this episode Alma member Atiba McLean, LCSW, speaks about equitable mental health care in the Black community and the urgency of confronting our shared humanity.
Queer communities are grounded in a belief that there is not any one way to be — shaped by fluid identities. Individuals are free to explore, decide, and declare what it means for them to be queer. This freedom stands in opposition to the internalized shame that many LGBTQIA+ people feel — a byproduct of both American norms and the legacy of the 1980s AIDS epidemic. In this episode, Alma member Donald Schmoll, LCSW, speaks about the expansiveness of queer identities and lingering shame in the wake of the AIDS epidemic.
Mental health issues can compound in individuals with multiple minority identities, faced with pressure to assimilate to a dominant culture or exist in a particular way. In a clinical context, mutual vulnerability and creating safe spaces for expression can allow individuals to flourish. In this episode, Alma member Munib Raad, LCSW, speaks about transcultural identities, queer people of color, and what culturally sensitive care really looks like.
While individual narratives are distinct, immigrants to the United States share the experience of assimilating and adapting to a new culture. Among Latinx individuals, language fluency, colorism, and documentation status can cause additional strain. Alma member Dr. Leslie Peña-Sullivan, LCSW, speaks about immigrant experience and the importance of culturally sensitive, trauma-informed care.
Disability is a construct defined by an individual and their environment, most notably a failure of the environment to meet the individual where they are. Rates of disability have been rising for years, and will continue to do so in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alma member Dr. Nuri Erkut Kucukboyaci, PhD, speaks about disability identities, systemic barriers and American ableism, and the power of community support.
Individual identities are molded in adolescence and young adulthood and shaped by the world we're born into and the communities we surround ourself with. Today, social media and digital personas have an outsize impact on how people present themselves and relate to their peers. Alma member Liz Beecroft, LCSW, speaks about identity formation during adolescence, internet realities, shifting the narrative by encouraging small-scale systemic change, and the importance of meeting people where they are.
Much of what happens in therapy is a study of the self — who we are, what made us that way, and how these things inform the way we engage with the world around us. At Alma, we believe that knowledge is the antidote to stigma, and that true mental health awareness requires both a deeper self-study and a compassionate curiosity to better understand the experiences of others. Join us in the weeks ahead for conversations about identity formation in adolescence, immigrant experiences, disability identity, and so much more.