Secrets to Keep

If you’re from an Asian American family, you may be familiar with these beliefs: not airing out your dirty laundry, saving face, and keep it in the family. Maybe you were chastised or disciplined for talking about what’s going on at home with ‘outsiders’, even though all you were doing was talking about your own experiences.You may not have understood why it was so important that your family appear impervious to any imperfections or flaws, but you may have nonetheless learned to hoard all the pain inward, instead of letting the outside world see. As you reflect now, what role did secrets have in your family growing up? How about in your interpersonal dynamics now? As an adult, what do you do with your dirty laundry now?

If you would like to explore these ideas further in therapy, please contact us to schedule a free consultation.