Mental Health Blog

01 | Mental Health Insights from Visiting the Philippines in 2024
Published: August 1, 2024

In Kasamahan's Monthly Consultation Group, three Filipino/a/x therapists, Cheryl, Eliza, and Cherie shared about their separate visits to the Philippines this year in Spring and Summer 2024.

We invited them to write about their perspectives on mental health care in the Philippines as it compares to mental health care in the United States. They also share unique and relatable personal stories.

Please enjoy their diverse insights shared together as kapwa.

What would you like us to know about your professional mental health background and the therapy you provide?

Cheryl Weiss, MA, LCPC she/her/siya
Co-Owner of Weiss and Associates
Evanston and Skokie, IL
| Weiss and Associates | cheryl@cweissandassociates.com

The connection that I am able to make when my clients share their stories with me, their own and their families' histories, mainly anything about life they feel open and safe to talk about. To me, connection is vital to a client's healing.

I bring both an in-depth connection between the body and the mind, and how these two interconnect with each other when it comes to our emotions, spiritual connection, relationships and mental health. I integrate somatic experiencing approaches with clients I see.

Eliza Wangerin, LCPC (e-lee-za) she/her
Jungian Analyst from ISAP Zurich
Chicago, IL
| Eliza Wangerin, PLLC | elizawangerin.lcpc.llc@gmail.com

I listen to the story. "Clinical diagnosis are important but they do not help... the crucial thing is the story." (Jung 1961). I do not call my work as therapy, but rather as soul work. Jung also said, give the unconscious a hearing. As a Jungian Analyst, not only do I listen to the story, but I also listen to the unconscious, and try to teach this to my clients. Together we look at dreams, and look for symbols. We look for the images behind the emotions.

I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Illinois. I am a fully trained Jungian Analyst from ISAP Zurich in Switzerland.

Cherie B. Concepcion, LMFT she/her/they/siya
Certified Yoga Therapist and NARM Therapist
North County San Diego, CA
| Therapy with Cherie | cherielmft@gmail.com

I'm a California LMFT and IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist. I specialize in trauma and somatic psychotherapy. My work is informed by Depth Psychology, Yoga Therapy, The Gottman Method for Couples Therapy, and the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM). I am also EMDR trained, and an iRest Yoga Nidra meditation teacher and utilize these tools in my work as well.

What would you like to share about your Filipino background and identity?

Cheryl: I was born and raised in Manila, lived there until I was at the age of 20, when I immigrated with my parents and my youngest sister to the west suburbs of Chicago.

My parents are from the Visayas region (Southern Leyte), and so when growing up in the Philippines, we would go there as a family every summer break from school to see our extended families. Being around the ocean, exchanging stories with families and friends, and eating Filipino food are parts of our family culture. We love visiting family and eating a ton of food.

Eliza: I am a Filipina - born, raised, grew up in Bacolod City - surrounded by the Visayan and Sulu sea, and sugarcane fields, with Mt Kanlaon in the horizon. Mt. Kanlaon is sacred to the Babaylans, and is believed to be where the goddess Laon - meaning the ancient one - resides. These are my origins, my roots. Ilongo is my mother tongue.

I am a wife, and mother of two grown men and a daughter-in-law.

Cherie: I identify as 1.75 or 1.5 generation Filipina-Chinese-American.

I was born in the US, but my parents immigrated to Los Angeles when they were 19yo and had me a couple of years after. I spent 1 school year attending 2nd grade in the Philippines under the care of my Lola, and have counted over 20 visits total to the Philippines over my life time. My father (d. 1999) was Chinese born in the Philippines, and my mother is Filipina. They both spent most of their childhood in Quezon City. My mother was born in Malabon where her father, my Lolo, is from. Her mother, my Lola is from Pampanga. My Lola earned the Filipino Congressional Gold Medal for her service in WW2 before her death in 2018. I speak and understand a form of Tagalog my family affectionally calls "Taglish."

What area in the United States do you identify with, and what would you like to share about your trip to the Philippines?

Cheryl: I live in Skokie Illinois which is 15 miles north of downtown Chicago. Skokie feels like an "urban suburban" environment to me and my family resonate with the area due to the diverse community that encapsulates Skokie.

A portion of my trip, I stayed in Manila where I was born and raised, and spent time with friends I grew up with since elementary school throughout college. We went to Southern Leyte and visited two islands around the area with my immediate family, as well as spending a lot of time with my extended family. We stayed 10 days at my brother and sisters-in-law's beautiful private resort they own that is secluded and by the ocean. The other part of my trip I visited Boracay island for 4 days with my immediate family, my sister and her family who also lives in Illinois, my cousin from Sacramento, CA and my friends who are locals of Manila. Lastly, we also stopped by the Tagaytay province and stayed there for a day with my high school friends and my sister's childhood friends.

My visit was a mixture of incredible, breathtaking and magical due to the places where we stayed the most. There is also that deep sense of peace and joy.

Returning back to my roots (my family) and doing things that I am familiar with during my childhood years brought me so much solace. I reconnected with my old friends and families I have lost contact with. It felt very restorative and rejuvenating for my mind and body. Coming back to the Philippines allowed me to unplug and bring out so much perspective about life in general, relationships I have there, and the connection or reconnections I made. It also feels like there is some sense of harmony, like music, where they all blend together and complement each other.

That is how I would describe visiting the Philippines.

Eliza: I live in Chicago. I take early morning walks along Lake Michigan daily, sometimes at sunrise. Lake Michigan is so big it reminds me of the sea, which connects me to the Philippines and her many islands, about 7,000 all in all. Water is a symbol for life. The sea is also a symbol for the unconscious, with its depth, treasures and darkness. The sea “is our mother of mothers”.

During my recent visit to the Philippines, I felt the presence of The Great Mother. Her presence is palpable. She is the source of life and is also the cruelty of life. She gives life and also takes it away. The Philippine people in general have a great devotion to Mary, Virgin Mother of God, and at the same time, her shadow, the witch, is also very present. Whether we like it or not, these archetypes - the good mother and the evil mother - live in the psyche of the Filipinos.

Cherie: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and currently live in San Diego county. I am a military spouse and have lived in a number of places including Japan, Boston, Hawaii... but the Philippines is home for me.

Whenever I visit, I feel it is a homecoming. My entire immediate family, first cousins, Titas and Titos, siblings, grandparents and parents all live or are buried there. They even own and operate family businesses there. So my visits are centered around catching up with family, spending time together, visiting graves, eating, sharing stories, and reminiscing. My most recent visit centered around a wedding in Vigan.

What similarities and differences did you notice in how mental health care is considered and approached in the Philippines compared to the US? Any challenges or opportunities?

Cheryl: From what I know and based on what my friend has told me who used to work as a nurse in a mental health hospital there, there is not a lot of resources for patients, in particular in Mandaluyong, where the National Center for Mental Health is located, when they get discharged. There is an overflow of patients and the ratio to staff, nurse or psychiatrist is high.

When it comes to similarities, there is now access to telehealth services, which they call in the Philippines "telepsych" for outpatient services. Majority of those who can access this service are mainly private pay patients as insurance is a big challenge to get access to there. Most outpatient services there are private pay and individuals tend to be seen by a psychologist and or a psychiatrist. In this way, affordability can be a challenge for those who need therapeutic support. However, I did find out that wellness retreats being run by a "healing coach", is now becoming common there.

Eliza: The Philippines and the US each have a unique way of doing and being. Culture carries a big factor in approaches to mental health care.

I gave a dream workshop, a very basic and simple one, to my mother and her friends. My mother is 90 years old and her friends are in their 70’s & 80’s. They are interested in dreams so they invited me. They have been friends for decades, been through life’s ups and downs together. The climax of the dream workshop was them sharing their dreams and their efforts to understand them. We looked at symbols, we asked why this dream now, what in my life is this dream related to?

I have observed that any group, or maybe any two people who talk about a dream becomes energized. A certain energy comes from the unconscious from the dream images. As though a new room in the house is discovered. This happens across all cultures.

Cherie: Over the past 6-10 years of working as a mental health clinician in a military hospital setting, I have become intimately familiar working with misunderstandings and negative stigmas towards mental health care. I see no difference in my own family in the Philippines.

My elders (Titas and Titos generally in their 60s) seem to have a disapproving or shameful stance towards mental health struggles and generally do not like talking about it. However, I am aware of more private and intimate conversations that have and continue to happen in my family about personal wellbeing and personal mental health struggles. I am also aware that many of my relatives have sought professional mental health treatment in the Philippines with positive outcomes and experiences.

I am sure there are opportunities for a career in mental health in the Philippines, and there are likely unique opportunities and challenges with access to mental health care in the Philippines compared to the US, but I have not actively investigated it for myself. My primary intention when I visit has been centered around family. Perhaps this is an inquiry in my future.

Do you have insights on what may be helpful for Filipino clients and communities in the US?

Cheryl: I think that providing resources, the non-western and western orientation(s) approaches that I know, have worked for my Filipino clients. There has to be some balance between the two. Discussing family structures and its systems, which is something that I learned most in my undergrad and graduate degree programs.

I also noticed, based on certain themes I have learned from my Filipino clients, that they start becoming more interested in exploring our culture and their traumatic experiences. They want to understand learning how to access their unconscious core beliefs that shape their response to trauma like untangling the complex area where the client and their collective trauma meet.

As someone who integrates the mind and body connection, I can see that helping clients learn the techniques to stay attuned into their internal process and be somatically grounded, can effectively work with their trauma.

Eliza: I often say to my clients and to my family, friends, “live your life”. When we are cut off from our true life, living a life that is not ours, neuroses occurs. If we do not own our shadow, connect with the ancestors within ourselves, do not confront the things that give us pain, we are living but not alive.

In uprootedness, being cut off from our origins, our roots, we become depressed and anxious. When a tree is cut off from its roots, the tree dies.

Cherie: The thing that has been most helpful for me as a Fil-Chi-American is to learn and be curious about my family history and culture. Connect with other Fil-Ams regularly who are open to being supportive and caring. If these types of connections are not available, look for a Fil-Am therapist for support to explore your relationship to your heritage and culture on a deeper level.

Are you applying any of these or other insights from your recent visit into your work? If so, what does this look like?

Cheryl: I would like to think so that I practice what I learned from my recent visit to the Philippines and the connection I have with my Filipino clients.

I am happy to share some bits and pieces to some Filipino clients I have, especially when they ask how my trip was, what did I learn, etc. I also value the importance of self-disclosure at times with my Filipino clients for as long as it is done with intent for the client to foster more understanding about themselves.

Eliza: I practice what I know, what I myself learned from experience, what I am as a person and as a psychoanalyst.

I cannot accompany my clients into the forest, or the depths if I myself have not been there. I cannot accompany my client to confront the witch, if I myself have not confronted the witch within me. I cannot be with my my clients in analyzing their dreams if I myself have not worked on my dreams. This requires a companion because one cannot do it alone. I listen to psyche in every moment because she is alive and everywhere. Every moment can be different and my response would be for that moment.

Cherie: Yes. However, I am always gauging my clients' capacities and where they are in treatment. If it is relevant to their treatment, I suggest wholeheartedly for a client to look into their cultural background, their family history, even global history - to gain some context of where they are from, what global/environmental/political factors may have influenced their experiences within their family units and how these experiences may have shaped their identity today (i.e. war, famine, civil war, persecution, genocide, occupation, etc.)

Is there anything else that you would like others to learn about that may be valuable for the Filipino mental health community?

Cheryl: As a Filipino clinician, I think the most valuable is the sense of kinship that many Filipinos embody. The term "kapwa", is related to our collectivistic nature and how we relate to others. I appreciate the value of demonstrating warmth to each other and the way we welcome others.

Sometimes I think it's an indescribable connection when working with Filipino clients -- it feels like there is synchronicity, a spiritual connection I receive, when working with "kapwa Filipino" clients. I also like to add the importance of a "little bit" of self-disclosure when working with our “kapwa Filipino” clients, especially when it sparks genuine curiosity.

Eliza: I am not an expert on Philippine culture, nor the psychology of the Filipinos. But in what little I know of it - and in my experience, Filipino psychology is kapwa. It is a relational psychology. It is about seeing the other as other who is also the same as me. Kapwa is in our DNA.

When you are in the Philippines, especially in the small towns and rural areas, this kapwa psychology is very present. But I think in general, in the big cities, this has been forgotten. The Western ideals of materialism and individualism is much stronger. Kapwa requires a deep sense of oneself, a connection to one’s loob, my inside, my inner core. In so doing I can relate to my kapwa.

The psyche is deep and vast, we can only get clues, and hints. If we want to live a life that is authentic, that is uniquely and truly ours, one has to listen from deep within. The way is dark and dangerous. But it is worth all the suffering and pain.

Cherie: Yes, but I am wanting to provide a separate workshop... I am inquiring, exploring, and feeling into a connection between kapwa and meditation practice.

Cheryl, Eliza, Cherie are available for comments and questions by email.

To learn more about our Monthly Consultation Group, please visit our Events page.