Emotional Health and Well-Being

Growing up as a visible minority of immigrant parents in a predominately Caucasian town in Canada, I gradually learned that many people in that town conflated my parents' English language ability with their intelligence. It was almost as though for many, the subconscious mind automatically assigned a positive correlation between language proficiency and intelligence. The thinking must have been something like: Well, they run a variety store and I have to dumb down my words when speaking to them, so they can't be very smart. Read more

Originally posted in September 2019

From Our Mailbag:

Hi Dr. Ben,

I'm 59 years old and am hoping that you can help me with an issue that has been a heavy burden almost all my life. Read more

A while back, I stumbled upon the following priceless commercial that aired in Malaysia over the Chinese New Year holiday several years back. Most of it is painfully familiar to Asians of my generation and I'm guessing to many from other cultures as well. The closing scene never fails to leave me with a heavy lump in my chest.

I hope you have a chance to enjoy this lovely look at some of the different types of success that we can experience in this world: Read more

Dear Dr. Kim,

This is out of character for me but I feel compelled to write to you so I'm letting down my guard and following my heart.

I have much to be thankful for. I had responsible parents who took care of all my essential needs growing up. Being immigrants from China, they didn't believe in brand names and luxuries. They were all about buying only bare bones necessities and saving the rest for the future, including my university education. What my parents lacked in warmth they compensated for in making sure I was never going to be hungry or homeless. Read more