October Organisational Newsletter

October: Confidence in Culturally-Responsive Practice

Hello there!

Last month, I had the privilege of joining a panel at the National Mental Health Commission's 2026 Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Symposium, alongside people working across research, policy, lived experience and mental health practice.

During the discussion, I shared a tension we hear often at Shapes and Sounds:

💭 Communities tell us they can feel unseen or misunderstood when they seek mental health support. At the same time, services consistently tell us they genuinely want to provide culturally responsive care.

I don't believe these two insights are contradictory in any way.

What we often see is a gap between intention and confidence. Practitioners care deeply about providing culturally responsive support, but haven't always had access to the knowledge or tangible resources to build their confidence in doing so.

That's why our Cultural Competency PD's focus less on knowing everything about Asian cultures, and more on providing actionable skills to understand people's cultural context in practice, with confidence.

If this is something your team is working towards, we'd love to support you. Please reach out to hello@justshapesandsounds.com and I can share more information about our core Cultural Competency PD.

Cheers,
Asami

🌱 Important dates and festivals this month

Some important cultural festival and dates this month include: 

October 2: Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti. A day honoring Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, celebrated with peace prayers and ceremonies across India. The UN also marks this date as the International Day of Non-Violence to uphold Gandhi’s principles of Ahimsa.

October 11 – 20: Dashain. The grandest annual festival for Nepali communities, representing the ultimate victory of virtue over evil.

October 17 – 21: Durga Puja. A major Hindu celebration dedicated to honoring the goddess Durga. Predominantly observed in West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Tripura, Bangladesh, and parts of Nepal, it features sacred rituals, artistic performances, gift exchanges, shared meals, and festive street processions.

October 20: Vijay Dashami. Also known as Dussehra, this occasion marks the final day of Navaratri and symbolizes the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

October 27 – November 4: Kathina. A Theravada Buddhist tradition signaling the conclusion of the monks' rainy season retreat. During this period, lay practitioners offer robes, supplies, and donations to express appreciation to the monastic community.

How will your organisation be marking these important dates this month? Feel free to reach out to us if you'd like some ideas!

🦉 Research perspectives to strengthen your culturally-responsive practice:

Huynh and colleagues (2024) explored how parental exposure to war/migration-related trauma impacted the mental health of second generation South East Asian Americans. Their research highlighted both positive and negative factors; while participants highlighted ongoing stress and tensions within the family due to intergenerational trauma, they also noted a strong desire and sense of resilience to overcome these challenges through community engagement and a strengthening of their own bicultural identity. 

What does this mean for clinicians and the community? 

These findings highlight the importance of contextualising stress and mental health within one's life and family history, especially in instances where intergenerational trauma may be present. Clinicians should remain curious and open to exploring how those impacted by intergenerational trauma have cultivated resilience through community ties and their own unique cultural strengths, rather than purely focusing on symptom reduction and traditional 'gold standard' approaches to addressing trauma symptoms. 

Reflective prompt: 

Take some time to reflect upon your own family history, and how your parent's experiences may have influenced the way you were raised, your perception of the world, and your definition of wellbeing. How do your parents speak of their own life experiences, and how might that have influenced your worldview? 

You're welcome to reach out to us by replying to this email, if you'd like some perspective on this.

💡Build your organisation's cultural-responsiveness in 2026.

Shapes and Sounds helps mental health, education and community organisations build the confidence and practical skills to better support Asian communities.

We currently have capacity to work with two organisations across November and December, and we can support your team through:

- Our core 90-minute professional development session, Addressing Mental Health Stigma in Asian Communities
- Reflective practice and cultural supervision
- Bespoke consulting services

Join organisations including headspace Syndal, the Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School and The Royal Children’s Hospital in learning practical strategies for delivering more culturally responsive support.

Ready to learn more? Click the link here!

🔎 Connect with our new therapists.

Our Asian Australian mental health practitioner list introduces you to private practitioners who are skilled in supporting the Asian community's mental health needs.

🐌 And last but not least:

Recently on Linkedin,

We shared our practitioner interview with registered psychologists Dhiya Patel and Milly Tupthim. Read our interview with them HERE and HERE.