Friday, April 23, 2027 | 6pm to 7:30pm
25 West 43rd St, 10th Floor, Suite 1000
between 5th & 6th Ave, Manhattan
In-Person: RSVP | Zoom: RSVP
Asian American youth experience significant mental health needs but remain the least likely racial-ethnic group to access mental health services. This talk presents findings from Project AWARE, a mixed methods study examining mental health needs, barriers, and facilitators to care among Asian American youth ages 13-17 in the New York metropolitan area. Drawing on survey and qualitative data collected with youth, we report on the rates of mental health needs and patterns of service use, culturally specific barriers that prevent help-seeking, and the factors that facilitate engagement with care. We discuss implications for how community organizations, schools, and mental health providers can better identify and serve Asian American youth with mental health needs.
Project funded by the 2026 CUNY Faculty Research Support Program
Author Bio
Dr. Amy Hyoeun Lee is a licensed clinical psychologist and scholar with expertise in childhood trauma-related mental health disparities, culturally responsive interventions, and youth- and family-focused cognitive behavioral therapies. She is an Assistant Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY, and the CUNY Graduate Center, serving as core faculty in the Ph.D Program in Clinical Psychology.
Dr. Lee directs the Lab for Youth Trauma Recovery, whose work aims to facilitate mental health equity for youth of color with interpersonal trauma histories. To this end, she and her team conduct community-engaged research focused on: (1) identifying mechanisms linking interpersonal trauma to youth mental health trajectories, along with the individual-, family-, and community-level protective factors that may buffer these links; and (2) reducing disparities in access to evidence-based, trauma-focused therapies for youth and communities of color by testing innovative approaches to cultural tailoring and dissemination of such therapies.
As a first-generation immigrant from South Korea, a CUNY graduate, and a native of Queens, NY, Dr. Lee’s work is shaped by both her personal and professional experiences of the strengths and resilience of local communities of color.
