Yale’s CHATogether breaks through mental health barriers

By Richard Ha, D.O. and Eunice Y. Yuen, M.D., Ph.D.

“Being a 1.5 generation immigrant from Hong Kong and also a mother of two Asian American children, serving for Asian American family mental health and uplifting the community are my calling. Artistic outlets, such as film, theater, graphic novel, and improvisation, provide powerful psychological venues to break the silence of mental health. Art orchestrates a rippling therapeutic effect to connect everyone together- from the viewers, to creators, and the community coordinator of the event” ~ By Eunice Y. Yuen MD, PhD

In response to anti-Asian sentiment and the mental health crises young Asians were facing during the COVID 19 pandemic, Eunice Y. Yuen, M.D., Ph.D. founded Yale Compassion Home, Action Together (CHATogether). The program utilizes six components (interactive theater, mental health education, research, community outreach, collaboration, and AAPI mentorship) to address disparities in mental health access for Asians in the United States.

Dr. Yuen initially drew inspiration from other AAPI resources (e.g. “Let’s Talk” at Harvard Graduate School of Education & Stanford CHIPAO) to create a CHATogether Youtube channel and assemble a team of volunteers from various disciplines to research and develop the CHATogether program at Yale University.

Her team consists of film directors, artists, educators, faith-based communities, mental health providers, psychiatry trainees, and high school students from all over the United States. Methods used to discuss mental health include, but are not limited to, the use of drama therapy, shadow puppetry, graphic novels, and digital social media. 

Since 2022, CHATogether has expanded into clinical settings by incorporating multiple psychotherapeutic elements, including psychodynamic psychotherapy, drama therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy, to address needs beyond the Asian American community.

A 6-week pilot program that was implemented at the Yale New Haven Hospital Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program demonstrated that the program had positive effects on intra-family communication and relational health. The CHATogether intervention has also expanded to include mental health discussions catered to different ethnicities, such as the Hispanic population.

CHATogether has been the recipient of several awards, including the American Psychiatric Association Helping Hands Grants Program, Yale New Haven Health Innovation Award, AACAP Assembly Advocacy and Collaboration Grant, and AACAP Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Award. 

Yale CHATogether also provides a space for artists in New York City to discuss their art works intersecting with culture, family, and mental health. Talks are usually held at art exhibitions that are open to the public. Professional artists and CHATogether members with immigration experiences create art addressing cultural diversity issues.

Disciplines include a wide range of visual arts, scriptures, and performances. Artists share their own familial experiences, immigrant stories, racial discrimination, internalized racial trauma, mental health issues, parenting conflicts, and cultural identities.

As mental health professionals, CHATogether members bridge mental health education through these artists’ work to the public. Working interdisciplinarily, CHATogether also conducts interviews with artists to learn about the message behind the creative art they made about their families, childhood, or immigration stories.