Awards
Division 35 Section V Awards recognize Asian Pacific American feminists who embrace the mission of Division 35 and Division 35 Section V in their professional identity and work. Areas of professional focus are broadly defined, including but not limited to community engagement, leadership, clinical work, research, and mentoring.
2023 Section 5 Awardees
STEPHANIE CHIN - STUDENT PIONEER AWARD
Stephanie Chin (she/her/hers) is a doctoral candidate in the counseling psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Louisville. Stephanie will be starting her pre-doctoral internship at Asian Americans for Community Involvement. Her research interests include family dynamics, culture, discrimination, stigma, Asian American and Pacific Islander mental health, and resilience in communities of color in order to inform culturally appropriate treatment and interventions. She also has interest in applying cultural humility into practice and understanding how intersecting identities, including gender and socioeconomic status, impact each individual’s experience. Stephanie currently holds several leadership positions within the Asian American Psychological Association and APA Division 45: Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race and is the student representative-elect for the APA Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women, greatly valuing mentorship and ensuring that the needs and voices of students are heard and supported. Stephanie has presented at numerous conferences including at the American Psychological Association, Winter Roundtable, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and Association for Women in Psychology. She received her M.S.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling from CUNY Hunter College and B.S. in Applied Psychology from New York University. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys exercising, travelling, and trying new foods!
ANGELA B. KIM, PH.D - PIONEER AWARD
Dr. Angela B. Kim is an Associate Professor in the Couple and Family Therapy Graduate Program at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University, San Diego. She is a 1.5 generation Korean American feminist psychologist who works toward addressing mental health disparities and providing culturally responsive mental health services. She trains and mentors future culturally responsive therapists and has worked with underserved communities to gain and provide access to academic, social, and mental health resources for minority disadvantaged youth and their families. Dr. Kim's work calls attention to and promotes equity and social justice.
DR. YA-SHU LIANG, PH.D - DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Dr. Ya-Shu Liang (she/her) is an immigrant, educator, licensed psychologist, and community organizer who infuses API feminist values into her work, including mentoring others. She has engaged numerous students and early career professionals through conference presentations, journal manuscript peer reviewing, and other scholarly activities. In particular, she enjoys engaging students and ECPs in community organizing and advocacy (e.g., through the San Joaquin Valley API Mental Health Project and Central California Asian Pacific Women). She has learned so much from her mentors within Division 35, Section 5, LIWP, and CCAPW, and has personally benefited so much from connecting with her mentees. She is grateful to pay it forward by passing along the API feminist values that help keep us all humble, connected, and helpful to the communities we serve.
LYDIA HARIM ANH, PH.D - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD, ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Lydia HaRim Ahn (she/her) is an assistant professor in Counseling and Counseling Psychology at Arizona State University. Her program of research includes: 1) examining the detrimental effects of racism and oppression on marginalized communities with an emphasis on within group differences, 2) developmental protective and risk factors between racism and health outcomes with a focus on ethnic-racial socialization, parenting, and attachment, and 3) promoting healing through psychotherapy, evidence-based videos, and prevention and intervention programming.
LINDA LY, PH.D - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD, COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Dr. Linda Ly is a 2nd-generation Vietnamese-American psychological associate located in San Diego County. She currently provides individual therapy services while working towards licensure. She has been a part of Section V since 2017 and is a member of the Social Media Committee. She earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Tennessee State University in 2022. Linda enjoys going on hikes, lounging at the beach, and entertaining her sassy cat during her free time.
NANCY TRUONG, PH.D - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD, LEADERSHIP
Nancy Truong is currently a clinical assistant professor in the counseling and counseling psychology program at Arizona State University. She identifies as a Vietnamese American feminist with specific interests in integrating research with practice to support the academic and mental health needs of the diverse Southeast Asian American community. Her research interests intersect with her clinical interests and examines how socio-cultural factors may affect the academic and mental health of diverse populations. She has organized and facilitated several workshops on various topics such as: working with clients with marginalized identities, equity and social justice issues in higher education, and mental health stigma within Asian American communities.
Stephanie Chin (she/her/hers) is a doctoral candidate in the counseling psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Louisville. Stephanie will be starting her pre-doctoral internship at Asian Americans for Community Involvement. Her research interests include family dynamics, culture, discrimination, stigma, Asian American and Pacific Islander mental health, and resilience in communities of color in order to inform culturally appropriate treatment and interventions. She also has interest in applying cultural humility into practice and understanding how intersecting identities, including gender and socioeconomic status, impact each individual’s experience. Stephanie currently holds several leadership positions within the Asian American Psychological Association and APA Division 45: Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race and is the student representative-elect for the APA Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women, greatly valuing mentorship and ensuring that the needs and voices of students are heard and supported. Stephanie has presented at numerous conferences including at the American Psychological Association, Winter Roundtable, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and Association for Women in Psychology. She received her M.S.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling from CUNY Hunter College and B.S. in Applied Psychology from New York University. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys exercising, travelling, and trying new foods!
ANGELA B. KIM, PH.D - PIONEER AWARD
Dr. Angela B. Kim is an Associate Professor in the Couple and Family Therapy Graduate Program at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University, San Diego. She is a 1.5 generation Korean American feminist psychologist who works toward addressing mental health disparities and providing culturally responsive mental health services. She trains and mentors future culturally responsive therapists and has worked with underserved communities to gain and provide access to academic, social, and mental health resources for minority disadvantaged youth and their families. Dr. Kim's work calls attention to and promotes equity and social justice.
DR. YA-SHU LIANG, PH.D - DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Dr. Ya-Shu Liang (she/her) is an immigrant, educator, licensed psychologist, and community organizer who infuses API feminist values into her work, including mentoring others. She has engaged numerous students and early career professionals through conference presentations, journal manuscript peer reviewing, and other scholarly activities. In particular, she enjoys engaging students and ECPs in community organizing and advocacy (e.g., through the San Joaquin Valley API Mental Health Project and Central California Asian Pacific Women). She has learned so much from her mentors within Division 35, Section 5, LIWP, and CCAPW, and has personally benefited so much from connecting with her mentees. She is grateful to pay it forward by passing along the API feminist values that help keep us all humble, connected, and helpful to the communities we serve.
LYDIA HARIM ANH, PH.D - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD, ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Lydia HaRim Ahn (she/her) is an assistant professor in Counseling and Counseling Psychology at Arizona State University. Her program of research includes: 1) examining the detrimental effects of racism and oppression on marginalized communities with an emphasis on within group differences, 2) developmental protective and risk factors between racism and health outcomes with a focus on ethnic-racial socialization, parenting, and attachment, and 3) promoting healing through psychotherapy, evidence-based videos, and prevention and intervention programming.
LINDA LY, PH.D - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD, COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Dr. Linda Ly is a 2nd-generation Vietnamese-American psychological associate located in San Diego County. She currently provides individual therapy services while working towards licensure. She has been a part of Section V since 2017 and is a member of the Social Media Committee. She earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Tennessee State University in 2022. Linda enjoys going on hikes, lounging at the beach, and entertaining her sassy cat during her free time.
NANCY TRUONG, PH.D - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD, LEADERSHIP
Nancy Truong is currently a clinical assistant professor in the counseling and counseling psychology program at Arizona State University. She identifies as a Vietnamese American feminist with specific interests in integrating research with practice to support the academic and mental health needs of the diverse Southeast Asian American community. Her research interests intersect with her clinical interests and examines how socio-cultural factors may affect the academic and mental health of diverse populations. She has organized and facilitated several workshops on various topics such as: working with clients with marginalized identities, equity and social justice issues in higher education, and mental health stigma within Asian American communities.
2022 Section 5 Awardees
TANVI SHAH (SHE/THEY) - STUDENT PIONEER AWARD
Tanvi Shah is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Boston University's Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Tenets of intersectionality, multicultural insight-oriented therapies, and the ecological model inform her work as a researcher and clinician. Tanvi's research focuses on mental health and trauma within the marginalized communities, with a focus on Asian women and gender-based oppression; while her clinical work is grounded in cultural humility and advocacy within the therapeutic relationship. In her free time, Tanvi loves making time to knit, paint, read, and talk to people.
DR. MENGCHUN CHIANG (SHE/HER/HERS) - DISTINGUISHED PIONEER AWARD
Meng Chiang, PhD, is a Taiwanese/Asian American feminist psychologist, currently serving as the Assistant Director of Training at the Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. In her practice, Meng cares from a trauma-informed and social justice oriented psychodynamic lens. Meng lives in the community by organizing and offering consultation to address mental health disparity for BIPOC folx. Meng is passionate about training the next generation of clinicians and leaders. In her free time, Meng enjoys traveling, listening to podcasts, grocery-shopping, and loving-kindness meditation.
DR. YUKI OKUBO (SHE/HER) - DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Dr. Yuki Okubo received her PhD from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at Salisbury University. Dr. Okubo has embraced her professional identity as a counseling psychologist, a qualitative researcher, and a feminist scholar-activist. Her research interests are race dialogues, racism, coping, experiences of marginalized people, and mentoring BIPOC students. As a qualitative researcher she uses interviews and focus groups to capture the stories of individuals and their experiences with systemic oppression. Prior to teaching at Salisbury University, she trained doctoral and master's psychology students to competently serve diverse clients. Since joining SU in 2015, her Racism & Coping research lab engages in qualitative research on race, racism, racial identity, and race relations. The research lab developed a student-facilitated anti-racism workshop for undergraduates. Dr. Okubo also co-developed the Accelerated Mentoring Program (AMP) which integrates a community-based participatory action research (CPAR) experience with intensive professional development. She received the Research Mentoring Award from the Fulton School of Liberal Arts in SU in 2020 and the SU President's Diversity Champion Award in 2021. She has served in various leadership roles in national organizations such as the Association for Women in Psychology and APA's Division 35 Section V Psychology of Asian Pacific American Women as the mentoring co-chair. She is currently on the editorial board for the Counseling Psychologist and the Asian American Journal of Psychology. She is committed to training and mentoring the next generation of mental health professionals and change agents.
DR. ADELEINE CONANAN (SHE/HER/SIYA) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Adeleine Conanan, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in California. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Diego. She focused her dissertation on the experience of 1.5-generation Filipino immigrants in the U.S. and completed her internship at AACI (Asian Americans for Community Involvement) in San Jose, CA. Since receiving her license in 2020, Dr. Conanan opened her private practice where she works predominantly with Filipinx and Asian Americans to address emotion dysregulation, internalized oppression, and complex trauma. In 2021, she took on the position of Professional Training Liaison at her alma mater. As a liaison, she incorporates her interest in serving ethnic- and gender-diverse populations by supporting practicum sites in providing an inclusive training environment that assists the growth of their students in being culturally sensitive and humble clinicians.
Tanvi Shah is a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Boston University's Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Tenets of intersectionality, multicultural insight-oriented therapies, and the ecological model inform her work as a researcher and clinician. Tanvi's research focuses on mental health and trauma within the marginalized communities, with a focus on Asian women and gender-based oppression; while her clinical work is grounded in cultural humility and advocacy within the therapeutic relationship. In her free time, Tanvi loves making time to knit, paint, read, and talk to people.
DR. MENGCHUN CHIANG (SHE/HER/HERS) - DISTINGUISHED PIONEER AWARD
Meng Chiang, PhD, is a Taiwanese/Asian American feminist psychologist, currently serving as the Assistant Director of Training at the Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. In her practice, Meng cares from a trauma-informed and social justice oriented psychodynamic lens. Meng lives in the community by organizing and offering consultation to address mental health disparity for BIPOC folx. Meng is passionate about training the next generation of clinicians and leaders. In her free time, Meng enjoys traveling, listening to podcasts, grocery-shopping, and loving-kindness meditation.
DR. YUKI OKUBO (SHE/HER) - DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Dr. Yuki Okubo received her PhD from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology at Salisbury University. Dr. Okubo has embraced her professional identity as a counseling psychologist, a qualitative researcher, and a feminist scholar-activist. Her research interests are race dialogues, racism, coping, experiences of marginalized people, and mentoring BIPOC students. As a qualitative researcher she uses interviews and focus groups to capture the stories of individuals and their experiences with systemic oppression. Prior to teaching at Salisbury University, she trained doctoral and master's psychology students to competently serve diverse clients. Since joining SU in 2015, her Racism & Coping research lab engages in qualitative research on race, racism, racial identity, and race relations. The research lab developed a student-facilitated anti-racism workshop for undergraduates. Dr. Okubo also co-developed the Accelerated Mentoring Program (AMP) which integrates a community-based participatory action research (CPAR) experience with intensive professional development. She received the Research Mentoring Award from the Fulton School of Liberal Arts in SU in 2020 and the SU President's Diversity Champion Award in 2021. She has served in various leadership roles in national organizations such as the Association for Women in Psychology and APA's Division 35 Section V Psychology of Asian Pacific American Women as the mentoring co-chair. She is currently on the editorial board for the Counseling Psychologist and the Asian American Journal of Psychology. She is committed to training and mentoring the next generation of mental health professionals and change agents.
DR. ADELEINE CONANAN (SHE/HER/SIYA) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Adeleine Conanan, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in California. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Diego. She focused her dissertation on the experience of 1.5-generation Filipino immigrants in the U.S. and completed her internship at AACI (Asian Americans for Community Involvement) in San Jose, CA. Since receiving her license in 2020, Dr. Conanan opened her private practice where she works predominantly with Filipinx and Asian Americans to address emotion dysregulation, internalized oppression, and complex trauma. In 2021, she took on the position of Professional Training Liaison at her alma mater. As a liaison, she incorporates her interest in serving ethnic- and gender-diverse populations by supporting practicum sites in providing an inclusive training environment that assists the growth of their students in being culturally sensitive and humble clinicians.
2021 Section 5 Awardees
LYDIA HARIM AHN (SHE/HER) - STUDENT PIONEER AWARD
Lydia HaRim Ahn, M.S.Ed, M.A., is a doctoral candidate in the counseling psychology program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her M.S.Ed in Counseling and Mental Health Services from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. in Psychology and Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include experiences of oppression and resilience among marginalized communities related to racism, ethnic-racial socialization, parenting, intersectionality, mental health, and psychotherapy. She hopes to develop culturally relevant intervention and prevention programs for BIPOC communities and families.
DR. SHERRY C. WANG (SHE/HER/她) - PIONEER AWARD
Sherry C. Wang, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology department at Santa Clara University. She is a licensed psychologist, a researcher, and an anti-racist educator. She identifies as a cisgender woman (she/her/她) and her worldview is influenced by her bilingual and bicultural background as a Taiwanese immigrant and Asian American. Her theoretical orientation is an integrated approach comprised of interpersonal process multicultural, and feminist theories and she sees psychotherapy patients one day a week. Her scholarship is rooted in advocating for the voices of underrepresented groups (e.g., People of Color, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ populations) and identifying sociocultural determinants (e.g., access to healthcare services, social support, community attitudes) in ethnic/racial health disparities. She teaches graduate courses in multicultural counseling, developmental psychology, microskills in counseling, counseling
theories, and gender and counseling. At the national level, she co-chairs the Asian American Psychological Association’s (AAPA) Division on Women (DOW). She also chairs the American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, which is a 6-member committee responsible for representing the issues of ethnic minority communities in APA. She was previously part of APA's Committee on Psychology and AIDS, which has since been expanded and
renamed as a committee on health disparities. Since the start of COVID19, she has been featured, cited, and interviewed in the media on the topic of anti-Asian racism, xenophobia, and cross-racial coalition-building. In 2020, she gave birth and became a first-time mom to twin identical girls!
DR. HSIU-LAN CHENG (SHE/HER) - DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Hsiu-Lan Cheng (she/her) is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco. Her research examines help-seeking attitudes and mental health concerns (particularly depression, body image concerns, disordered eating) from the intersection of racial and ethnic minority psychology, objectification theory, attachment theory, and positive psychology. She is particularly interested in understanding the contextualization of mental health and psychological wellbeing within the sociocultural milieu of racism, sexism, classism, immigration, and acculturation.
DR. VIANN N. NGUYEN-FENG (SHE/HER) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Viann Nguyen-Feng ([vee-anne win-fang], she/her) is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She serves as core faculty in the counseling/clinical masters program and directs the Mind-Body Trauma Care Lab, where her research focuses on increasing access to holistic, trauma-informed mental healthcare among in-need community groups. Viann grew up with Vietnam War Veteran/refugee parents in Alexandria, Virginia, and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota for her counseling psychology PhD on the Twin Cities campus.
DR. LEI WANG (SHE/HER) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Dr. Lei Wang (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in Graduate Psychology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Lei identifies as a Taiwanese international feminist scholar and advocate. Both her research and clinical work centers around the mental health among Asian international and Asian American college students. She also examines cross-cultural training, language-specific counseling and intervention, and clinical supervision in her research.
DR. YUE LI (SHE/HER/她) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
LEADERSHIP
Dr. Yue Li is an incoming Assistant Professor position at Roosevelt University. Her teaching and research interests
evolve around the experience of oppression (e.g., sexism, racism, migration), decolonization and liberation psychology,
and the process and outcome of psychotherapy. While being a faculty member, she will continue her bilingual (English and
Mandarin Chinese) clinical practice with individuals, couples, families, and groups at Center Focused Therapy in Chicago.
Lydia HaRim Ahn, M.S.Ed, M.A., is a doctoral candidate in the counseling psychology program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her M.S.Ed in Counseling and Mental Health Services from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. in Psychology and Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include experiences of oppression and resilience among marginalized communities related to racism, ethnic-racial socialization, parenting, intersectionality, mental health, and psychotherapy. She hopes to develop culturally relevant intervention and prevention programs for BIPOC communities and families.
DR. SHERRY C. WANG (SHE/HER/她) - PIONEER AWARD
Sherry C. Wang, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology department at Santa Clara University. She is a licensed psychologist, a researcher, and an anti-racist educator. She identifies as a cisgender woman (she/her/她) and her worldview is influenced by her bilingual and bicultural background as a Taiwanese immigrant and Asian American. Her theoretical orientation is an integrated approach comprised of interpersonal process multicultural, and feminist theories and she sees psychotherapy patients one day a week. Her scholarship is rooted in advocating for the voices of underrepresented groups (e.g., People of Color, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ populations) and identifying sociocultural determinants (e.g., access to healthcare services, social support, community attitudes) in ethnic/racial health disparities. She teaches graduate courses in multicultural counseling, developmental psychology, microskills in counseling, counseling
theories, and gender and counseling. At the national level, she co-chairs the Asian American Psychological Association’s (AAPA) Division on Women (DOW). She also chairs the American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, which is a 6-member committee responsible for representing the issues of ethnic minority communities in APA. She was previously part of APA's Committee on Psychology and AIDS, which has since been expanded and
renamed as a committee on health disparities. Since the start of COVID19, she has been featured, cited, and interviewed in the media on the topic of anti-Asian racism, xenophobia, and cross-racial coalition-building. In 2020, she gave birth and became a first-time mom to twin identical girls!
DR. HSIU-LAN CHENG (SHE/HER) - DISTINGUISHED MENTOR AWARD
Hsiu-Lan Cheng (she/her) is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco. Her research examines help-seeking attitudes and mental health concerns (particularly depression, body image concerns, disordered eating) from the intersection of racial and ethnic minority psychology, objectification theory, attachment theory, and positive psychology. She is particularly interested in understanding the contextualization of mental health and psychological wellbeing within the sociocultural milieu of racism, sexism, classism, immigration, and acculturation.
DR. VIANN N. NGUYEN-FENG (SHE/HER) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Viann Nguyen-Feng ([vee-anne win-fang], she/her) is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She serves as core faculty in the counseling/clinical masters program and directs the Mind-Body Trauma Care Lab, where her research focuses on increasing access to holistic, trauma-informed mental healthcare among in-need community groups. Viann grew up with Vietnam War Veteran/refugee parents in Alexandria, Virginia, and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota for her counseling psychology PhD on the Twin Cities campus.
DR. LEI WANG (SHE/HER) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
COMMUNITY PRACTICE
Dr. Lei Wang (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in Graduate Psychology at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Lei identifies as a Taiwanese international feminist scholar and advocate. Both her research and clinical work centers around the mental health among Asian international and Asian American college students. She also examines cross-cultural training, language-specific counseling and intervention, and clinical supervision in her research.
DR. YUE LI (SHE/HER/她) - JEAN LAU CHIN EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL AWARD
LEADERSHIP
Dr. Yue Li is an incoming Assistant Professor position at Roosevelt University. Her teaching and research interests
evolve around the experience of oppression (e.g., sexism, racism, migration), decolonization and liberation psychology,
and the process and outcome of psychotherapy. While being a faculty member, she will continue her bilingual (English and
Mandarin Chinese) clinical practice with individuals, couples, families, and groups at Center Focused Therapy in Chicago.
2019 Section 5 Pioneer Awardees
Dr. Chu Kim-Prieto - Distinguished Mentor
Dr. Reiko Homma True - Distinguished Pioneer
Dr. Anastasiya Tsoy - Pioneer Graduate Student
Dr. Reiko Homma True - Distinguished Pioneer
Dr. Anastasiya Tsoy - Pioneer Graduate Student
2018 Section 5 Pioneer Awardees
Dr. Khanh Dinh - Distinguished Pioneer Mentor
Yuxin Sun - Pioneer Graduate Student
Dr. Linh Luu - Distinguished Pioneer Mentor
Yuxin Sun - Pioneer Graduate Student
Dr. Linh Luu - Distinguished Pioneer Mentor
2017 Section 5 Awardees
2016 Section 5 Awardees
Dr. Susana Lowe – Distinguished Mentor
As a psychologist, Dr. Lowe’s passion is to help people discover and articulate meaning in their lives, to assist in fostering understanding of the self-in-context, and to facilitate developing skills to accomplish personal, social, academic, career, community, and political goals. She has great love for food, music, family, friends, and her dogs. She tends to care deeply about her students, clients, and colleagues. She is especially appreciative of people who mean well and do their best to act accordingly, as well as people who, at times, can laugh heartily about life.
Dr. Diane Hayashino – Distinguished Pioneer
Diane Hayashino is a licensed psychologist and the current training director of Counseling and Psychological Services at California State University, Long Beach. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the graduate program in Educational Psychology, Administration and Counseling at CSULB. She received her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oregon. She has served as past president of Section 5 and continues to serve as the co-chair of the Student Task Force Committee. Her interests include training and clinical supervision, trauma, and Asian American mental health.
Fanny Ng – Pioneer Graduate Student
Fanny Ng is a doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston working with Dr. Karen Suyemoto. Fanny is an incoming pre-doctoral intern at the Integrated Health Psychology Training Program in Psychology at the Wright Institute. Fanny's clinical and research interests broadly include the study of the impact of race and racism on mental health in Asian Americans and other communities of color. Her master's thesis focused on race-related stress and its relation to racial identity, ethnic identity, and racism-related empowerment in Asian Americans. For her dissertation, she is examining the strategies for negotiating intersectional discrimination related to racism, sexism, and their intersection for Asian American women leaders. Fanny is also interested in organizational leadership, public policy, and community advocacy. Fanny will be ending a 2-year term as the Asian American Psychological Association's Board of Directors as Student Representative this August and is an alumni of the Minority Fellowship from the American Psychological Association. She will serve as the APA SPW Section 5 Student Representative in 2017-2019.
As a psychologist, Dr. Lowe’s passion is to help people discover and articulate meaning in their lives, to assist in fostering understanding of the self-in-context, and to facilitate developing skills to accomplish personal, social, academic, career, community, and political goals. She has great love for food, music, family, friends, and her dogs. She tends to care deeply about her students, clients, and colleagues. She is especially appreciative of people who mean well and do their best to act accordingly, as well as people who, at times, can laugh heartily about life.
Dr. Diane Hayashino – Distinguished Pioneer
Diane Hayashino is a licensed psychologist and the current training director of Counseling and Psychological Services at California State University, Long Beach. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the graduate program in Educational Psychology, Administration and Counseling at CSULB. She received her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oregon. She has served as past president of Section 5 and continues to serve as the co-chair of the Student Task Force Committee. Her interests include training and clinical supervision, trauma, and Asian American mental health.
Fanny Ng – Pioneer Graduate Student
Fanny Ng is a doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston working with Dr. Karen Suyemoto. Fanny is an incoming pre-doctoral intern at the Integrated Health Psychology Training Program in Psychology at the Wright Institute. Fanny's clinical and research interests broadly include the study of the impact of race and racism on mental health in Asian Americans and other communities of color. Her master's thesis focused on race-related stress and its relation to racial identity, ethnic identity, and racism-related empowerment in Asian Americans. For her dissertation, she is examining the strategies for negotiating intersectional discrimination related to racism, sexism, and their intersection for Asian American women leaders. Fanny is also interested in organizational leadership, public policy, and community advocacy. Fanny will be ending a 2-year term as the Asian American Psychological Association's Board of Directors as Student Representative this August and is an alumni of the Minority Fellowship from the American Psychological Association. She will serve as the APA SPW Section 5 Student Representative in 2017-2019.
2015 Section 5 Awardees
Dr. Phi Loan Le - Distinguished Pioneer
Born in Saigon, Dr. Phi Loan Le came to the U.S. as a refugee with her parents and four siblings at the end of the Vietnam war. She went through her formative adolescent years as a 1.5 generation Vietnamese American. Her upbringing could be described as traditional and collectivistic, with occasional infusion of covert feminist values from her mother. Being the “quiet rebellion”, as her Mom called her, she decided to pursue neither medicine nor engineering at the end of her third year as an undergraduate at UCLA but chose psychology instead. Thus began her journey of becoming a “student of the heart”, a Vietnamese equivalent of a “clinical psychologist”. Many years later, she is now doing what she loves and her family has somewhat come to terms with her not being the “real doctor”. Currently, Phi Loan is a CA licensed psychologist and a training director of the APPIC doctoral internship program at Santa Ana College. Her professional passions include of multicultural psychology, social justice, women issues, grief work, and training/supervision. Her personal passions are her daughter Maya and her son Joaquin, her life partner, and family and friends. Through all the joys and challenges of her daily encounters, she hopes to continue to grow and stay grounded in her identity as a Vietnamese American woman who is a feminist psychologist.
Linh Luu - Pioneer Graduate Student
Linh is a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology at Lehigh University. She is looking forward to starting her pre-doctoral internship at the University of Memphis Counseling and Testing Center starting in August. As a feminist, an API woman, and a third-culture kid with much experience living in different cultures, she has a special interest in social justice advocacy and multicultural issues and often integrates multiculturalism and advocacy in her counseling and scholarly work. She is also very passionate about women’s and racial ethnic minority issues, as well as training and supervision.
Dr. Asuncion Miteria Austria - Distinguished Mentor
Dr. Asuncion Miteria Austria is a distinguished leader for women in psychology and has made outstanding contributions to education and training and to the delivery of psychological services to women through her teaching, writing, administrative leadership, mentoring, and guidance for their professional careers. At Cardinal Stritch University, she was a professor, chair, and director of Clinical Training, Founding Chair and Director of Clinical Training Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology from 2000-2012 and is currently a Professor Emerita of Psychology. She has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2014 Sue Rosenberg Zalk Award for Distinguished Service, Society for the Psychology of Women (SPW), the 2009 Okura Community Leadership Award from the AAPA for "leadership, scholarship, and dedication" to the Asian Pacific American communities, the 2007 APA Presidential Citation "for her lifelong devotion to multiculturalism", and the 2007 Distinguished Elder/Senior Psychologist Award from the APA National Multicultural Conference and Summit. Dr. Austria is a Fellow of 5 APA Divisions and is Chair of the Fellows Committee of SPW, Chair of the Finance Committee as well as the Governance Committee for APA Division 45. She is the current chair of the Sue Rosenberg Zalk award. As one of the most dedicated, respected and longest-serving members of SPW's executive committee, she has provided invaluable mentorship and support for the formalization of Section 5.
Born in Saigon, Dr. Phi Loan Le came to the U.S. as a refugee with her parents and four siblings at the end of the Vietnam war. She went through her formative adolescent years as a 1.5 generation Vietnamese American. Her upbringing could be described as traditional and collectivistic, with occasional infusion of covert feminist values from her mother. Being the “quiet rebellion”, as her Mom called her, she decided to pursue neither medicine nor engineering at the end of her third year as an undergraduate at UCLA but chose psychology instead. Thus began her journey of becoming a “student of the heart”, a Vietnamese equivalent of a “clinical psychologist”. Many years later, she is now doing what she loves and her family has somewhat come to terms with her not being the “real doctor”. Currently, Phi Loan is a CA licensed psychologist and a training director of the APPIC doctoral internship program at Santa Ana College. Her professional passions include of multicultural psychology, social justice, women issues, grief work, and training/supervision. Her personal passions are her daughter Maya and her son Joaquin, her life partner, and family and friends. Through all the joys and challenges of her daily encounters, she hopes to continue to grow and stay grounded in her identity as a Vietnamese American woman who is a feminist psychologist.
Linh Luu - Pioneer Graduate Student
Linh is a doctoral candidate in Counseling Psychology at Lehigh University. She is looking forward to starting her pre-doctoral internship at the University of Memphis Counseling and Testing Center starting in August. As a feminist, an API woman, and a third-culture kid with much experience living in different cultures, she has a special interest in social justice advocacy and multicultural issues and often integrates multiculturalism and advocacy in her counseling and scholarly work. She is also very passionate about women’s and racial ethnic minority issues, as well as training and supervision.
Dr. Asuncion Miteria Austria - Distinguished Mentor
Dr. Asuncion Miteria Austria is a distinguished leader for women in psychology and has made outstanding contributions to education and training and to the delivery of psychological services to women through her teaching, writing, administrative leadership, mentoring, and guidance for their professional careers. At Cardinal Stritch University, she was a professor, chair, and director of Clinical Training, Founding Chair and Director of Clinical Training Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology from 2000-2012 and is currently a Professor Emerita of Psychology. She has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2014 Sue Rosenberg Zalk Award for Distinguished Service, Society for the Psychology of Women (SPW), the 2009 Okura Community Leadership Award from the AAPA for "leadership, scholarship, and dedication" to the Asian Pacific American communities, the 2007 APA Presidential Citation "for her lifelong devotion to multiculturalism", and the 2007 Distinguished Elder/Senior Psychologist Award from the APA National Multicultural Conference and Summit. Dr. Austria is a Fellow of 5 APA Divisions and is Chair of the Fellows Committee of SPW, Chair of the Finance Committee as well as the Governance Committee for APA Division 45. She is the current chair of the Sue Rosenberg Zalk award. As one of the most dedicated, respected and longest-serving members of SPW's executive committee, she has provided invaluable mentorship and support for the formalization of Section 5.
2014 Section 5 Pioneer Awardees
Christine Yeh
Dr. Yeh is a Professor in Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco (USF). She was previously an Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University for 8 years. She is a Taiwanese-American feminist and activist who has a long track record of mentorship to numerous Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian girls, young adults, and women. Her previous mentors include Professor Carol Gilligan and Drs. Hazel Markus and Theresa LaFromboise. Dr. Yeh’s scholarly interests focus on (1) intersections of gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in experiences of structural, institutional, and personal discrimination and racism and (2) the development and evaluation of collaborative, culturally responsive, anticolonial programs for historically targeted youth of Color. Her research contributions have been in close collaboration with Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian youth almost entirely middle and high school female students. Her deep passion for mentorship and community service is exemplified in her previously receiving the USF Mentor of the Year Award, the APA Division 17 SERD Community Service Award, and The Okura Community Leadership Award from AAPA. She is the recipient of several academic honors and awards including four Outstanding Research Awards (from APA, ACA, and AERA (2)), five Outstanding Teaching Awards from Columbia University, and Fellow status in AAPA.
Reiko True
Dr. Reiko True has worked tirelessly throughout her career and has made an exceptional amount of contributions to the field of psychology. Dr. True attended the California School of Professional Psychology in Berkeley. She has devoted herself to the advancement of minorities over a span of 25 years and her commitment has yielded great improvements. She played an active role in the creation of the Asian American Community Mental Health Program in Oakland, California. After becoming the first female director of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Forensic Services, she demonstrated the importance of creating multicultural focused programs and generating programs for women with children. After the Kobe region of Japan experienced an earthquake in 1995; she traveled abroad as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and established a program that provided mental health services to disaster victims. More than a decade later, Dr. True led the Clinical Psychology Master’s Program in Tokyo, Japan for the California School of Professional Psychology. Today Dr. True practices in San Francisco, providing services to those who are unable to speak English, as well as minorities residing in Japantown. She is a recipient of prestigious awards such as the 2003 Lifetime Award from AAPA. In 2001, she was recognized as an Outstanding Alumna by the Japanese American Women Alumnae of UC Berkeley (JAWAUCB) of the California Alumni Association. She also served as an officer for Section 6 of Division 12 as a Mentor Awards Chair. From 1997 to 1999, Dr. True served as President of AAPA. During this position, she designed mentoring initiatives to aid Asian-American women. Throughout her career she has diligently mentored Asian- American women and served as an advocate for the Asian-American community. Her dedication to the advancement of the minority population has remained the driving force of her career and is the reason she is recognized internationally.
Dr. Yeh is a Professor in Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco (USF). She was previously an Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University for 8 years. She is a Taiwanese-American feminist and activist who has a long track record of mentorship to numerous Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian girls, young adults, and women. Her previous mentors include Professor Carol Gilligan and Drs. Hazel Markus and Theresa LaFromboise. Dr. Yeh’s scholarly interests focus on (1) intersections of gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in experiences of structural, institutional, and personal discrimination and racism and (2) the development and evaluation of collaborative, culturally responsive, anticolonial programs for historically targeted youth of Color. Her research contributions have been in close collaboration with Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian youth almost entirely middle and high school female students. Her deep passion for mentorship and community service is exemplified in her previously receiving the USF Mentor of the Year Award, the APA Division 17 SERD Community Service Award, and The Okura Community Leadership Award from AAPA. She is the recipient of several academic honors and awards including four Outstanding Research Awards (from APA, ACA, and AERA (2)), five Outstanding Teaching Awards from Columbia University, and Fellow status in AAPA.
Reiko True
Dr. Reiko True has worked tirelessly throughout her career and has made an exceptional amount of contributions to the field of psychology. Dr. True attended the California School of Professional Psychology in Berkeley. She has devoted herself to the advancement of minorities over a span of 25 years and her commitment has yielded great improvements. She played an active role in the creation of the Asian American Community Mental Health Program in Oakland, California. After becoming the first female director of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Forensic Services, she demonstrated the importance of creating multicultural focused programs and generating programs for women with children. After the Kobe region of Japan experienced an earthquake in 1995; she traveled abroad as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and established a program that provided mental health services to disaster victims. More than a decade later, Dr. True led the Clinical Psychology Master’s Program in Tokyo, Japan for the California School of Professional Psychology. Today Dr. True practices in San Francisco, providing services to those who are unable to speak English, as well as minorities residing in Japantown. She is a recipient of prestigious awards such as the 2003 Lifetime Award from AAPA. In 2001, she was recognized as an Outstanding Alumna by the Japanese American Women Alumnae of UC Berkeley (JAWAUCB) of the California Alumni Association. She also served as an officer for Section 6 of Division 12 as a Mentor Awards Chair. From 1997 to 1999, Dr. True served as President of AAPA. During this position, she designed mentoring initiatives to aid Asian-American women. Throughout her career she has diligently mentored Asian- American women and served as an advocate for the Asian-American community. Her dedication to the advancement of the minority population has remained the driving force of her career and is the reason she is recognized internationally.
2014 Awards and Celebrations
- Debra Kawahara was elected to AAPA Fellow status.
- Yuying Tsong received the 2014 Division 45 Emerging Professional – Contributions to Service Award.
- Priscilla Lui received the Distinguished Student Practice Award from Division 12 Society of Clinical Psychology.
- Catherine Hsieh was selected for the 2014 APA Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) Leadership Academy.
- Zhen Cheng received a quarter million dollar grant from the John Templeton Foundation. She is a coinvestigator on a psychological research project examining religion and cognition.
- Bonny Chang received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Texas A&M University.