AWARE Partners with Harvard to Spread SSW Professor’s Intervention Therapy

After announcing a new collaborative partnership with Harvard University Health Services, BUSSW’s Asian Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE) is now seeking volunteers to participate in an intervention research study that addresses the high rates of suicidal behavior among Asian-American women.

The study will serve as a holistic mental health intervention program for its participants, responding to a critical need for culturally-specific mental health services. Through a combination of targeted group psychotherapy and text-based communication, AWARE intends to improve the mental well-being of participants and teach healthier behaviors for coping with stress and adversity.

AWARE’s Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) partnership will replicate studies conducted at Boston University and Wellesley College, where clinicians led eight group therapy sessions enforced by daily text messages. The sessions’ topics range from gender and sexuality to parenting and the complexities of existing in two cultures at once. By the study’s completion, participants will be taught evidence-based coping skills and will be empowered to seek help for the psycho-social struggles that many young Asian-American women face.

As the fall 2018 AWARE/HUHS research study develops, AWARE will continue to seek out partnerships with university health services, taking advantage of the high concentration of young Asian-American women enrolled in colleges throughout the U.S.

“I want every university using AWARE,” says BU associate professor Hyeouk “Chris” Hahm, founder of AWARE and Chair of Social Research at BUSSW. “It’s imperative to address this concerning trend and higher education institutions across the country need to be equipped with the proper tools and services to address this affected population.”

To determine your eligibility for AWARE’s confidential intervention research study, take the screening here.