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paulina davie's avatar

Hi Susan, yes, I agree. Can you believe it was only recently recognized as a genocide by the UN in 2018--that decades had gone by without much support or justice for survivors? There's a lot of shame around mental health struggles with that generation, and that's further reinforced by the fact that the global stage didn't recognize the need for support systems for survivors. A lot of them don't want to talk about it but fail to see how their unaddressed trauma still affects them in the present and affects the people around them.

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Susan Kuenzi's avatar

Paulina, that’s so sad. I understand the shame around mental health and trauma in that generation. I am a counselor. Also, I met a number of people when I worked in China who had nightmares and poor sleep from what they endured during the Cultural Revolution. But even my good friend here wasn’t comfortable getting help so she just lives with the impact of trauma. In 2018 my friend who is a MFT and I traveled to China and we taught workshops on a counseling approach to therapists in Kunming. I am very aware of the pain so many Asians carry, and the horrific experiences in Cambodia would have been so devastating. I look forward to reading your work.

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