My South Asian Parents Think Therapy is a Scam... What Do I Do?
**Note - please excuse the typos. This transcript was automatically generated.**
Intro (00:00:02) - Within the South Asian community, we are now realizing the magnitude of traumas that have been passed down from generation to generation. Many of you who are listening may be first generation Americans with South Asian parents. This can lead to something called intergenerational conflict, which is compounded with an intercultural struggle. We want to identify with her family's cultural background, but also want to embrace being an American. And this can get pretty messy when speaking with Anjali Riina, a master's student of clinical mental health counseling at the College of New Jersey, she speaks about how within the South Asian community, no one ever really tells you how to cope with trauma. Our parents, grandparents, and ancestors seem to use other methods to cope with difficult moments in their lives. Professional help was usually never considered. During this conversation we chat about how oftentimes South Asians are dissuaded from seeking therapy using something called the Collectivist Framework. But on the bright side, we are slowly but surely breaking the stigma of mental health conditions within the South Asian community through sources like social media, films, tv, and the growing number of therapists like Anjali who are passionate about understanding and serving the South Asian population. My name is Hetal Baman and this is the Global Health Pursuit.
Hetal Baman (00:01:33) - Welcome to the podcast Anjali. I am very happy to have you here. This is really exciting for me just because this topic, I think it hits close to home.
Anjali Badrinath (00:01:42) - Well, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity cuz this is one of my favorite things to talk about. Like I will literally talk anybody's ear off about this. So having a platform to spread this information and connect with other people like yourself who are really passionate about it, you know, that means a lot. So thank you.
Hetal Baman (00:01:58) - Amazing. So tell me a little bit about yourself and about your story.
Anjali Badrinath (00:02:03) - So basically I start with this literally every single time that someone asked me this question. But I was a pharmacy major, so I went into undergrad with the attention of doing a pharm D program. I hated it. It wasn't the thing for me.
Hetal Baman (00:02:16) - Why did you do pharmacy? What was the first reason? Why?
Anjali Badrinath (00:02:20) - My parents, that was pretty much, and like I can't blame them cause like my dad's a pharmacist. So many people in my family are in the health field, the medical field. So it was just my whole life people were saying, oh, she's gonna go and do something. Mm-hmm in the health field with science. And I did well in high school. So like they were like, oh, this is just the path she's gonna take. There was really no opportunity to explore anything else. And that's just a whole product of our community. You would know, like it's just, yes, a multi-generational concern. And I am now learning from my parents that they had other interests that they just, they were like, okay, well I'm never gonna be able to look at it so I might as well just not even consider exploring that option. And it makes me think, oh, they could have had a drastically different lifestyle, different if they had given that option. But I'm really thankful because at like when I was doing pharmacy, I was like, I can't do this anymore. And I was given the opportunity to switch to something that I liked, which was psych. And now I'm here and I'm just 10 times happier than I ever could have been doing something simply for the expectation of our community.
Hetal Baman (00:03:21) - The fact that you said that you didn't have the opportunity to explore other things, that is something that I think is, like you said, it's so prevalent in our community. I felt the exact same way because my whole family, they're on, they're all in the medical field, they're almost all of them are doctors. And I always thought, okay, well the option that I have is what type of doctor would I be? Right? What specialty would I go in? And , I would always say, oh, I wanna work with babies, neonatal or pediatrician or something of that nature. And it's really interesting because when I chose engineering, I had a feeling that medical school wasn't going to be it for me and I had to do the smart thing. And I think oftentimes South Asians will, in our community, will like think with our, with our minds instead of our hearts to be like, mm-hmm , okay, well what's the smart thing to do? And so yeah, that's, that's what I did. I took the smart route and I was like, okay, well if I don't go into medical school, then I at least be an engineer and that will still be prestigious. And I want you to talk a little bit more about what you discovered went from your family, what you've been discovering around what they actually wanted to do and what their interests were before going into pharmacy.
Anjali Badrinath (00:04:47) - Mm-hmm. . Yeah. These are things that they didn't even tell me about until I got older. Now that I'm in a position where I'm happy and I'm like settled now, I guess they feel that safety of, okay, we don't have to worry about her anymore. Right? When I'm initially made the switch, they were like, oh no, what is gonna happen? They knew nothing about the psychology field. So they were like, we don't know anyone in this field. Is she gonna make any money? Those were their main concerns. But now that they see, oh, she's doing okay,
Hetal Baman (00:05:13) - Or maybe she'll be a psychiatrist,
Anjali Badrinath (00:05:14) - That was initially a thing. I know my parents were like, oh, okay, when you switch you're gonna, you're still gonna med school, right? . And that was something I had to put to rest immediately cuz I was like, I couldn't do pharmacy. There's no way I'm doing med school after this. I have to be realistic with what I'm into and also what I'm able to do. So it's been a struggle, but they're also working really hard to better understand me, which I appreciate. And I know I'm lucky because there are people out there whose parents aren't open to that. There are family members who are very stuck in this is how I'm gonna think and that's it. Right. So I appreciate that a lot from them.
Hetal Baman (00:05:47) - So what, what were your parents' interests other than going into pharmacy?
Anjali Badrinath (00:05:51) - So my dad is the pharmacist, so he did pharmacy. So he's very happy now. But before he did initially wanna go into medicine, which is like still kind of under that umbrella of health. But it was something that he was really passionate about, but it wasn't something that he was able to do based on his circumstances and wasn't able to explore it. And I think just growing up there wasn't even an opportunity to be like, there might be something else that I'd be into. Because you know, his family wasn't very well off, so it had to be something high success. So like from a young age, she was like, okay, I have to grow up and I have to go to America and I have to send money back and make sure that my own parents have this level of, oh, my son is doing super well.
Anjali Badrinath (00:06:28) - Like he's in another country. But my mom, I was talking to her and she likes to hear about psychology and things like that. So I'll tell her about what's going on in classes and stuff and she's very interested and there are times where I'll be like, oh, you could have been a therapist. She'll say things that I'm like, oh wow. Like I didn't even think of that. And she'll, she's mentioned like, oh, when I was in college I took a psych class and I really liked it. But that wasn't even something that anyone was like, yeah, you could make a career out of that. So then she went into accounting instead.
Hetal Baman (00:06:55) - Wow. Such a drastic difference.
Anjali Badrinath (00:06:57) - Right? Yeah. Like it was just something that they were like, okay, like what's gonna be appropriate? And then just went that way. But both of them are happy and I'm glad that they're happy, but I also feel that they weren't able to explore other options. You know, everyone should have the opportunity to explore and make mistakes and then decide on what they're gonna do for the rest of their life. And that's something that a lot of people have the abil the privilege to do, I guess. Right.
Hetal Baman (00:07:20) - That is so interesting. It's almost like you're doing what your mom would've wanted to do. Mm-hmm. . And it's just the universe's way of like making everything come to fruition. Wow, that's, that's so cool. . So when you decided you wanted to become a therapist, what was the light bulb that went off in your head?
Anjali Badrinath (00:07:40) - So when I was doing pharmacy, like I was truly at a low point for myself and I just wasn't doing well. I was very isolated. Hmm. You spend a lot of time studying, wanting to do better and it kind of like takes a toll on your self-esteem. And I know there's people out there who really struggle with whatever field that they're in right now because they feel that they have to do well. Yeah. So I just from my own observation of how people were talking about mental health up till that point, no one was ever like, are you taking care of your mental health? It was, are you eating, are you sleeping? Those basic fundamental needs,
Hetal Baman (00:08:13) - Physical aspects,
Anjali Badrinath (00:08:13) - Right? The physiological, is that all okay? But no one was like, are you happy? Are you treating yourself? Are you protecting yourself? So that was where it kind of clicked of, okay, well like I enjoy psychology and that's something that I really do wanna learn more about. And then noticing our community has very little mental health resources now. There's so much more. But if I could be someone to provide that sort of advocacy and support to someone else who might be in a similar position, that was where I was like, I feel like this is it for me. Plus I've always been told, wow, you're such a good listener. So I was like, why not just make a career out of something that I'm already good at? So yeah, that's just a kind of click like
Hetal Baman (00:08:54) - That. That's awesome. So I wanna talk about some statistics around South Asian therapists because it's so interesting. In the United States there are over 192,500 therapists just about, and the most common ethnicity of therapists, obviously this is white, that's 72.6% followed by Asian. So I guess that would encompass South Asian as well. Mm-hmm. 11.3. That's pretty crazy. Can you talk to like where this stems from?
Anjali Badrinath (00:09:26) - One thing I will say about that statistic, it's, it's tough because we don't even know how much of that is South Asian, right? Like that's just Asian in general, which is so many different ethnicities and backgrounds. So I am, from my perspective, I just know in general, south Asians are just discouraged from this type of field. Even when I first entered this, I had not just family members, but friends, people in my own age group in this generation who were like, are you sure? Like this is what you wanna do or therapies kind of a scam. Why would you do that? Mm-hmm. , like why would you get into that field? So it was something that I, I kept hearing people be like, oh, it's a soft science. It's not something that needs to be taken so seriously. So I'm like, okay, if all of you're thinking this way, it's no wonder we don't have that many South Asian therapists in this country. It's
Hetal Baman (00:10:12) - So true. The first time I asked my parents to go see a therapist, my, I think it was with my dad that was like, oh, why would you wanna do that? Mm-hmm. , you can talk to us or you can talk to your friends. Oh they just want your money. You know, what's the difference And mm-hmm. , the thing that you said about therapy being seen as a scam, it is so prevalent. It's so interesting because the title of this episode is My South Asian Parents Think Therapy is a scam. Do What Do I do? You know, there was something that I saw, I read a couple articles around, there's this thing called the Summer Sensation of Mental Distress. And within the South Asian community we see that if we are feeling depressed, we don't say that we're feeling depressed. We say, oh my heart hurts. Or I have a physical feeling of like a sinking heart. It's like a kind of pain that people associate, but it's not ever associated to like your mental wellbeing. I find that so interesting. Do you, do you ever encounter that within our community?
Anjali Badrinath (00:11:26) - Oh yeah, definitely. I think that in itself is like a coping skill of being able to accept that something's going on. So if you're able to say, oh my heart hurts, like you said, or you know, I feel that sinking feeling in my stomach, it makes it feel more real when in reality emotions are real. We all feel things and that's like totally valid. But we've just been raised to, if you cried or you were angry, it's you need to relax. Like you need to calm down, it's too much, it'll pass. Just be happier. But it's not that easy. So instead we kind of put it into a physical sort of context of my heart hurts. Oh then like something's really happening to you right now. Physically, your body is reacting to something that's going on. But that's because we put more emphasis on physical health. So like we can go to a doctor and be like, oh this is going on. I need help with this. But going to a therapist for the exact same thing, but for mental concerns is completely a no-no.
Hetal Baman (00:12:23) - Right. And the other thing I saw was the collectivist framework. Mm-hmm. . So the collectivist framework, it's almost like when people say why therapy? Why aren't we enough? It's, why can't you just talk to us? It's a feeling that you've let your parents down for some reason. Mm-hmm. , it's where, oh, I have to go to therapy. It's almost like the parents feel like they haven't done enough to keep you happy. Mm-hmm. And it's like they're guilting you to say, you don't need to go there. Like you have a house, don't we provide for you enough? That's what I wanted to say because I saw that and I was like, wow, that is mm-hmm. So, so true. I've totally experienced that.
Anjali Badrinath (00:13:03) - Yeah. You bring up such a good point with, you know, haven't we provided you enough? We give you food, water, shelter and you can buy whatever you need to. But I don't know if you've heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Mm-hmm. , it's just like this pyramid of, you know, everything that a human being would need to function pretty well. And so yeah, the basics are physiological needs and then safety, being able to live somewhere and all that. But then the next few are love and belonging esteem and self-actualization, which half the time many South Asian families don't really place a lot of emphasis on. And I will say, I think it's because, cuz I speak more from like the perspective of the immigrant family. If they were in the country of origin there, they have that extended family. They have neighborhoods where people are constantly interacting, they're exchanging information, they're hanging out, they're maybe that sense of belonging and self-esteem is better because you feel like you belong, you're part of this embedded network.
Anjali Badrinath (00:13:59) - But they come here often it's just families and parents and their kids. They leave behind that entire network and they come here and they no longer have that sense of belonging. Now they're among other populations, they deal with racism and all sorts of forms of discrimination. Right. But parents still expect their kids to be like, well we're here for you. But that's not the same as what their parents had, their parents had all of these people and resources to interact with. So then it kind of passes down this sense of, I have to deal with this on my own here. And now I have this bicultural identity of I've at home, I have to deal with my parents traditions and cultures and make them happy. But I also have to be a good American. Like I have to acculturate and do everything that's expected of me in an individualistic society versus the collectivist society that my parents are used to.
Hetal Baman (00:14:51) - That is huge. That reminds me of so many, so many instances growing up trying to be , quote unquote a good American. Mm-hmm . But then coming home and then speaking gutti to my, to my ba, you know, my grandmom. And it's interesting because I don't even know if this relates, but I would come home and then my accent, my English accent would change. Mm. You know, So it's like, yeah, we're in this weird identity phase. Mm-hmm , that's so huge. And I think that that could lead us into our ne my next question in terms of the trauma that we face coming into being a first generation or second generation south Asian American, how do we cope with that struggle with trying to understand our parents. Our parents had, I don't wanna say difficult life, but a little bit more challenging. Yeah. And then, and then coming here, it's like we have everything provided for us, but then we have all of these things that are coming down from this generational patterns. Mm-hmm like the struggles that they face and then it's like we have to release it. Yeah. It's almost like our job to release these, these traumas. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Anjali Badrinath (00:16:04) - That's such a good point. Cuz with multi-generational trauma, you know, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, they were dealing with a lot of societal issues. Not to say that we aren't right now, but for them a lot of things regarding political freedoms and war and potentially just very dangerous circumstances to live in. So they didn't really have the opportunity to be like, oh I'm literally traumatized right now and I need help. And then those behaviors and feelings they get passed on. And then our parents, they bring those when they bring us here to another country. And so I would say a lot of us have, maybe now we have the opportunity to be like, okay, now we have all this generational trauma. My parents are dealing with this, I'm dealing with this. I have the space to maybe observe myself and be like, this is what I need support with.
Anjali Badrinath (00:16:51) - Which is probably what we are the generation that is breaking the cycle because we have exposure to that information to resources online. But not to say that everyone in our generation is able to do that either. They also kind of buy into what our parents are telling us. And I can't blame them because you know, if you're raised a certain way, it's hard to unlearn certain things. And if you have that type of connection with your parents, you are going to wanna carry on whatever they taught you. But then there's other people who feel like, well I don't wanna go against my parents. I really care about them and I respect what they've done, but also they've also treated me in a way that has resulted in me feeling a certain way. And now I wanna go against that and I want to seek support on my own. But that can be very alienating, right? Like going out there and trying to find support without the backup of your family, without that extended network. And that's why we end up dealing with really high cases of depression and anxiety. Especially in our community.
Hetal Baman (00:17:49) - When you say that, I feel like the numbers of the statistics are probably really off because we don't actually go in and like seek help.
Anjali Badrinath (00:17:57) - Mm-hmm , there's actually a study that South Asians in America probably have the highest percentage of people who don't utilize mental health services. So we have a lot of concerns that need to be addressed and we are probably the main population that just doesn't go and get help for it.
Hetal Baman (00:18:16) - Wow. I know what's weird , what's funny is though, even for us, like my parent, my family is like all in the medical field. But even when we have a medical problem, it's like ah, just walk it off. Yeah.
Anjali Badrinath (00:18:27) - ,
Hetal Baman (00:18:28) - Aren't you supposed to tell me that I should go to see the doctor? ?
Anjali Badrinath (00:18:32) - I will say, I think a big part of that and plus with like the reluctance to get mental health support is from the immigrant perspective. We come here and we're told, you know, with that model, minority myth of we're really high achieving, we're in high success fields. We do super well despite the circumstances. So we're not allowed to be emotionally weak. We can't display any levels of vulnerability or tell people, oh I'm really suffering with this or I'm dealing with this. Whether physically or mentally because Oh, like how could you possibly, if you came this far and now you're showing this type of weakness,
Hetal Baman (00:19:08) - It's like you're made of steel. Yeah,
Anjali Badrinath (00:19:11) - Right. Exactly. Which of course not like you, everyone is allowed to get support. You don't have to be perfect all the time.
Hetal Baman (00:19:17) - That reminds me of a time that I went to. So growing up I would always feel like I had to be the strong one. And I feel like this is probably part of the generational drama where like I just had to suck it up. I couldn't cry in front of people. I remember when we went to see that Indian movie, Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham, in the theaters and there was one part where I just teared up and I was like, just, you know, like try to try to not like let anybody see that I'm crying. And I find that that is so interesting because I, I would think that if I were to show weakness then everything would just crumble around me. Like, you know, the whole, my whole family would just be like, what's going on? Mm-hmm. what? What's happening? It's like a big like a whole big drama. Yeah. And now I cry. I cry like every day.
Anjali Badrinath (00:20:13) - But understandable.
Hetal Baman (00:20:15) - Yeah. You know I just gotta, I just gotta let it out.
Anjali Badrinath (00:20:18) - Yeah. It builds up. That's why we have such high rates of anger management concerns and depression cuz we just sit there with it.
Hetal Baman (00:20:25) - Yeah. We don't show emotion so much. And I think that that's also another feel, like another reason why showing emotion within the family is something that mm-hmm we don't really see too much. I think that's like in Asian families, I love you barely ever comes outta my dad's mouth. Mm-hmm . Although I know he loves me very much. It's just like the emotional side of things never come out.
Anjali Badrinath (00:20:51) - Yeah. And I think they probably do wanna hear it and they do wanna say it. It's just, it goes against everything they've ever learned. It's like the most uncomfortable thing
Hetal Baman (00:21:01) - It is. Wow. Mm-hmm . Do you ever see South Asian parents come seek therapy after immigrating to the States?
Anjali Badrinath (00:21:11) - I have not yet. But I can't imagine that there would be none. I'm sure there are people who are like willing to go get that help, but I think when you are like, you know, immigrating to another country, it's probably the last thing on your mind. Which in reality it could probably be one of the first few things you do. Cuz it would probably help you deal with everything else. Cope
Hetal Baman (00:21:29) - With everything else.
Anjali Badrinath (00:21:30) - Yeah, exactly. But then again, you know, no one in, when you're like sending your family to another country, no one's like, make sure you go get emotional support when you go. Like just make sure that you settle, you get your job set up and everything. But no one's like, get
Hetal Baman (00:21:44) - Married .
Anjali Badrinath (00:21:45) - Right. Get married, have your kids. No one's talking about the emotional part of it, but it's all a path. Getting married, having kids getting settled gets this path that we all have to follow. But then if we deviate, then you're doing something awful and it's a, it's a huge betrayal to the family. So then you start building up it's resentment and guilt and no one really gets to process that.
Hetal Baman (00:22:06) - Can you talk about the whole betrayal part of the family? Mm-hmm. because it's like when I quit my job at j and j, that's something that I thought for a very long time where first I don't go to med school and I get this great job at j and j and then I end up quitting. And I was like, it felt almost like guilt and betrayal at the same time. Mm-hmm. . And I had to, I had to take a long time to like overcome that because it's like I'm myself is, I knew that this wasn't what I wanted to do but I had to get over the fact that my parents may never understand. Yeah.
Anjali Badrinath (00:22:45) - That acceptance of parents are never gonna understand, but I'm okay with the decision that I've made. Like that's the toughest thing to come to terms with because it doesn't mean that your parents don't care about you and don't support your decisions. But at the same time it would feel nice to have their unconditional support. But there is that sense of if you do anything past the standards that they've set for you, it's immediately you've had a bad influence, you're being too American, you're not adhering to the culture. Even just like little things. It's because they don't want to not be involved. You bring home someone, oh I'm dating this person. Well I wanted to pick who you were gonna marry. Why would you go out and find someone for yourself? Or I'm gonna switch career paths. Well I don't know anything about that career. I don't feel included in this conversation. Mm-hmm , you've just gone and selected something that only you are interested in. Like it's again like that collectivist culture of why aren't we involved in every aspect of your life. But here we grow up and they're like, do what you need to do. Be an individual that's so hard to split and kind of figure out what works. You can't please everybody, but at least you should be pleasing
Hetal Baman (00:23:53) - Yourself. Yeah. It's so interesting that you say that because I, for a really long time I almost had to, I felt like I had to protect my family. Mm-hmm. From all of the backlash that may have occurred, right? Mm-hmm. , it's like when I made the decision to leave, I had all of these, I, I knew this was happening in the background where a lot of my family members would call my parents and be like, what is Hetal doing? Oh, she should get a job. Why did she leave this great job? What's been so long? When is she gonna get a job? Hmm. And for a really long time I thought that I had to protect my parents from all of that backlash. And that plays into the whole collectivist mindset because it's like the whole family, it's like you do one thing and you betray the whole family . It's like, well I just kind of, I kind of wanna do my own thing and I, I know you don't know much about this mm-hmm. this whole entrepreneurship lifestyle. But I'm gonna try it and I think I'm smart enough to get it going and if and if it doesn't work out then yeah like I can always get another job but mm-hmm , that's something that I feel like prevents so many of us from actually stepping out.
Anjali Badrinath (00:25:05) - There's like that huge reputational pressure of okay, it's not just my parents, I have to worry about, it's literally every other aunt and uncle who lives in the neighborhood . So if they see something happening, I'm gonna have to explain myself cuz it's gonna come back to my family. Which is not fair. How long could you possibly live for somebody else's dreams and then you will grow up resentful. You don't wanna grow up with the regrets of, well I could have done this for myself, but instead I did everything the way that I was supposed to, but there's no supposed to.
Hetal Baman (00:25:35) - That's a big thing that you said because my career coach, she was like, you know, in the beginning of when we would where we would talk mm-hmm. , I started working with her in like November I think. And she was telling me that in the beginning you were saying phrases like, I have to, I am supposed to, I need to. And then now finally changing that mindset too. I want to, I would like to, it would be great too. And I think it's so subconscious. Like I never knew that I was doing that
Anjali Badrinath (00:26:11) - Probably. Cuz our parents talk like that every day. Like they don't even realize it either. But everything is a, oh, I have to make sure this happens. I gotta make sure that this is okay. That's not true. Like you, you can do what you need to do. Nothing is a have to.
Hetal Baman (00:26:25) - So I am so happy because there's, I've been seeing, you know, in the South Asian community, we've seen a lot of like things in the media to try to break the stigma. Mm-hmm. , you know, for example, never have I ever, whereas like made sure he goes to therapy and there's another Indian movie that we saw Dear Zindagi, have you seen that one?
Anjali Badrinath (00:26:49) - I have
Hetal Baman (00:26:49) - Yet. I wanna ask you, what, what do you see the media doing to actually create a change in like the South Asian mentality of mental health?
Anjali Badrinath (00:27:00) - I will say like, so like you said, like never have I ever in tears in the gay, there's not a ton of things coming out where mental health is the main concept, but there are a ton of things coming out now with South Asians as main characters with fully developed personalities. And that in itself is so therapeutic to watch, to see, I'm not a stereotype, I don't have to adhere to all these expectations. There are people on screen who have full characters. They are people with families and dreams and ambitions and there's bound to be somebody who connects with that. And so I am super happy to start seeing that. Just the other day there was a South Indian movie that won an Oscar and to see the arts be highlighted like that. So I know my parents were like, oh wow, Indians can go ahead and be in the art field and like be in media.
Anjali Badrinath (00:27:53) - Having South Asians be represented in fields that are normally not represented in, like, that in itself is wow. Like this is an option now. Like people can be successful and happy because before like that really wasn't the case. It was sort of just very stigmatized. But also like with social media, I know I'm following like a ton of accounts right now. There's so many people out there who are putting out content and resources about supporting South Asians. I was so happy to find those. I'm, I'm hoping that they like start spreading a little bit more awareness and people are aware of these sites. Like I know there's a site called Brown Girl Therapy. She has like a newsletter that goes out that she talks about being culturally enough South Asian therapist website that's like a network of just South Asian therapists.
Hetal Baman (00:28:33) - Amazing.
Anjali Badrinath (00:28:34) - Just so many different websites. So I'm really grateful to be living in a time when this is available to me, but also I have to be aware that it's not enough. We still don't have as many resources as many other populations do. So it's, it's a work in progress. And then we have people like you who are like offering platforms like this to talk about it, which is fantastic.
Hetal Baman (00:28:54) - Yeah. I mean, as somebody who is experiencing anxiety, depression, all of that stuff, it took a really long time to talk about it. Yeah. To really even say like, this is how I'm feeling and I don't, I don't feel like I have to run to my room and lock the door and cry. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Anymore. It's actually really nice when, for example, when we, my family and I watched Dear Ziggie together mm-hmm. and my mom turned around, she was like, I'm so sorry. It was really, really sweet. And she was like, if I ever made you feel like that. And it's so funny cuz like even at that time I'm like, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. , you know, it's fine. Even at that point it's like, it's still hard to fully have that conversation, but even to break the ice a little bit is so refreshing.
Anjali Badrinath (00:29:41) - It goes a long way, right? Like now that she's done that, maybe she's like, okay, well now maybe I can bring up this a little bit later. It's baby steps and it's gonna take such a long time. But I can be proud of that generation for wanting to take those steps cuz it's not gonna happen unless they want it. And so I know they're really putting in that effort.
Hetal Baman (00:30:02) - So in terms of your career aspirations, you're right now in graduate school, right? Mm-hmm. . So what are, what are your plans for the future?
Anjali Badrinath (00:30:11) - So I am graduating this year, so yeah, the goal is to eventually Thank you. Yeah. . Um, the goal is to eventually go on to do a doctoral program, but with regards to this, I've been doing a lot of advocacy. I'm hoping to speak on other platforms and just sort of share my knowledge about it. I do eventually want to work with the South Asian population. Like right now where I'm working, it's not just a, it's not a population that really shows up very much in the clientele. So I'm hoping that that's something that I can kind of spread my reach out to. But it's a process. It, it's gonna keep going and yeah,
Hetal Baman (00:30:47) - It is a process. Thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. This was really, really refreshing to talk about and like I said, very, very close to my heart. Yeah. Thank you so much, Angela.
Anjali Badrinath (00:30:57) - Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for having me. This was such a cool opportunity and I hope that we can stay connected moving forward.
Hetal Baman (00:31:04) - Of course.
Ending Remarks (00:31:06) - Thank you for listening to this episode. If you'd like to learn more about today's topic and our guest today, head over to www.globalhealthpursuit.com/show notes to get access to resources, links, and ways you can get involved in the pursuit for global health. And if you love this episode, don't forget to write me a review on Apple Podcast and rate the podcast on Spotify. It helps me get in front of more people just like you and continues to elevate the causes that we are so passionate about. Thank you for listening to this episode. If you'd like to learn more about today's topic and our guests today, head over to www.globalhealthpursuit.com/show notes to get access to resources, links, and ways you can get involved in the pursuit for global health. And if you love this episode, don't forget to write me a review on Apple Podcast and rate the podcast on Spotify. It helps me get in front of more people just like you and continues to elevate the causes that we are so passionate about. I'll see you in the next one.