Healing Together

Moderator: Yeda Song, Peace by Piece

Panelists: Martin Lockett, MS, CADC II · Melody Li, LMFT · Spencer Uemura · CéShaun Hankins · Judith Faustima

What does it take to make mental health care feel safe, accessible, and relevant to the communities it serves? Mental health does not exist in isolation or solely within the walls of a therapist's office. Panelists will discuss approaches to prevention and crisis response, building community capacity to recognize and respond to mental health concerns, and creating safer care pathways for people of color who have historically faced barriers, discrimination, or mistrust within health systems. Together, we will examine how safety, connection, cultural responsiveness, and community empowerment can move mental health care from a reactive service to care models that honor culture, identity, lived experience, and the unique needs of their communities.

Facilitator: Ira Mae Nicolas, Kaya! Kabataan! (Filipino Bayanihan Center)

What are the impacts of our surroundings on our mental health? How can coming together to create change build confidence and leadership? This workshop will showcase the work of youth from the Kaya! Kabataan! youth program and local community organizers to change the name of Colonel Summers Park. We will also screen a mini-documentary in progress, expressing the strength of pro-people education and action.

Facilitator: Roberto Osorio, Oregon Health Authority — Behavioral Health Division, Policy Analyst

Youth and adults in Oregon experience clear disparities in suicide deaths, especially in communities who face systemic barriers and historic marginalization. Culturally specific providers are often the first people these communities turn to for support — they bring lived experience, cultural knowledge, and trusted relationships, but they also carry heavy workload demands, chronic exposure to system-level harm, and burnout. This session shares how the Behavioral Health Equity & Community Partnerships team is shifting how we work with culturally specific partners: practicing radical listening and space holding, showing up without a preset agenda, learning directly from providers, and centering the needs of communities instead of system requirements.

Facilitator: Faviola Robles Saenz, PhD, Community Psychologist, Seguir Adelante Research Group

Join us to explore the history and research behind migration, anti-immigrant sentiment, and collective trauma experienced by Latino immigrants. Together, we will also dive into the rich history of our activismo and cultura, learning how we can lean into these roots to find strength, resistance, and healing.

Facilitators: Devin Thongdy · Ron Sagun · Minh Nguyen (YouthLine)

Join Devin, Ron, and Minh from YouthLine as they present on the peer-to-peer crisis hotline, topics in BIPOC Youth Mental Health, and the importance of peer support in the healing process within BIPOC communities. The session opens into a Q&A with youth panelists Xutong Hei, Keem Gian, Ron Sagun, and Minh Nguyen, moderated by Devin Thongdy. YouthLine is a peer-to-peer crisis hotline dedicated to reaching folks through text, chat, and call — volunteers are aged 15–24.

Facilitator: Marie Mellberg, LPC — Clinical Rehabilitation Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor, Counselor Educator, and Clinical Supervisor

This workshop helps participants identify common clinical dynamics such as cultural taxation, racialized transference and countertransference, and expectations of racial labor when working with white clients. It emphasizes ethical, sustainable practice strategies, including boundary-setting and consultation practices aligned with the ACA Code of Ethics. The workshop also incorporates creative arts techniques to explore the relationship between personal/cultural identity and professional clinical identity — promoting reflection, community building, and self-care among BIPOC clinicians working in predominantly white settings.