Key Points
- Asami Koike is the founder of Shapes and Sounds, an organisation which helps Asia-Australians access mental health resources
- Ms Koike says young people need access to more culturally appropriate mental health support
- She was among those recognised in the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards
This story is a part of the SBS health and wellbeing initiative Mind Your Health launched on World Mental Health Day (10 October). Click to visit the SBS Mind Your Health portal, featuring digital stories, podcasts and videos in English and multiple languages.
Asami Koike left her job providing emergency mental health services for young people in 2019 citing burnout.
It was around this time she started blogging about her experiences on a page she called Shapes and Sounds.
The Melbourne-based music therapist says one of the reasons for leaving her job of five years was witnessing the difficulties faced by Asian-Australians in accessing culturally appropriate mental health support.
“I saw many young Asian people who couldn’t get adequate support, and they quit their therapy sessions abruptly. I started thinking why,” Ms Koike tells SBS Japanese.
Her blogging centred on the things she’d witnessed working in the mental health sector, her experience of growing up Asian in Australia, and commentary on the racism that people with Asian identities often face in the country.
“My blog attracted attention from various people. I started receiving messages, emails, DMs from many Asian people. They sent me messages asking how they could receive mental health care.”
The Melbourne-based team of Shapes and Sounds Credit: Asami Koike
Employing a team of eight, the organisation claims to have helped hundreds of Asian-Australians improve their mental health through a variety of resources for individuals, practitioners and workplaces.
One of its most popular services is a regularly updated list of Asian-Australian mental health practitioners.
Ms Koike says the list is by no means exhaustive – she estimates there to be around 8,000 Asian-Australian mental health practitioners in Australia – but the page attracts around 10,000 hits a month.
Why do young Asian-Australians struggle to find adequate mental health care?
Ms Koike pinpoints two main challenges, one being a perceived negative stigma in mental illness in Asian communities, which means people don’t want to get help.
The other is a lack of access to mental health practitioners who understand patients’ specific cultural values and background.
Many Asian-Australians, she says, are concerned that practitioners might not understand them properly.
“During the pandemic, (Asian) people who had never accessed mental health care before tried to find a psychologist who understands Asian cultures well. I was inundated with requests to find Asian-Australian psychologists for people. That formed Shapes and Sounds,” Ms Koike says.
"Their issues are not only the stress caused by the pandemic but also the stress caused by the relationships with their parents and families. They would like their psychologists to understand they are a bit different from other Western patients.”
Ms Koike draws on her own Japanese-Australian experience.
“In Japan, people are brought up by being told to work hard and do your best. So if a practitioner tells Japanese patients to have grit or perseverance, that could backfire.”
Asami Koike, founder and CEO of Shapes and Sounds Credit: Asami Koike
Ms Koike was born in Japan and moved to Australia when she was four years old. Even though she grew up in Australia, she thinks she is strongly influenced by Japanese cultural values.
According to a study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about 1.1 million (39.6 per cent) of young adults aged 16-24 years experienced a mental disorder in 2020-21.
Among young females aged 16-24 years, almost half (46.6 per cent) of them had a mental disorder in 2020-21. And one-third (31.2 per cent) of young males had a mental disorder in the same period.
Start a conversation
Ms Koike was recently recognised for her work at the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards in the entrepreneurship category.
She hopes that winning the award can shed light on the mental health needs of Asian-Australians.
What I would really, really like to see is more conversations in the media, (from) prominent Asian Australians who can talk about their mental health because people look up to them.Asami Koike
“If we can open up a conversation with more Asian people, that will help more people access mental health services” Ms Koike says.
She says that because family plays such a big role in Asian cultures, important conversations need to start at home.
As such, Shapes and Sounds launched a program called ‘Talking mental health with your family’, a free online video series providing clear strategies on mental health discussions.
“You want to feel supported by your family. When it comes to mental health, you don’t have to tell everyone. We always say that people need to earn the privilege to hear your story. So maybe you look for cheerleaders (such as) your siblings or cousins or someone in the same generation,” Ms Koike says.
She says it can be a struggle having difficult conversations with family members, but there are approaches that can help.
“When we are talking with family, we want something from them, maybe more support (from them). It’s very important when you have this kind of conversation with your family to think what your intention is.
“Sometimes making the intention clear will help you go into the conversation with the right focus. You kind of help yourself navigate this conversation with people who might not understand.”
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