Citation

Noh E. Women Ther. 2007; 30(3-4): 87-107.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J015v30n03_08

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent data on the alarming suicide rates among Asian American women are directing increasing public attention to this important mental health issue. However, very little is known about Asian American women's suicides from the perspectives of Asian American women themselves. This study examines the narratives of Asian American women suicide survivors about problems of responsibility for the purpose of therapy or healing. In particular, the study examines the role of individually focused healing therapies that seek to adjust the individual to society without questioning the power of racial and sexual subjection in hindering contexts for healing. As a result of a lack of language for suicide that moves beyond binarist discourses of victimhood or recovery, suicidal Asian American women are forced into silence about their psychic traumas or to represent their pain in self-destructive ways. The article suggests a rethinking of psychotherapy and healing that acknowledges the complex coexistence of agency and "illness," as well as the need for empowering Asian American women to change their sociopolitical environments. © Copyright (c) by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Racism; Asian American women; Healing; Sexism