Hello! I'm Hung-Ling / 虹翎 (she/her), a multilingual HongKongese migration, interculturality, & family psychologist from Barcelona,
wishing to create a safe & educational space for the mental, emotional, & relational wellbeing of the Asian (& intercultural in general) population in Barcelona.
Welcome / 歡迎 / いらっしゃい / Benvingudxs / Bienvenidxs ♡
why asian psychology in barcelona?
Been a child of immigrants, angry at my family's culture & dynamics, yet constantly yearning for it, while never fully feeling like I belonged to neither of my cultures (rejecting, too, my "different", ethnical physique) — all at the same time.
Been a child with mainly avoidant but also traits of anxious attachment, who hadn't been taught how to care for others without sacrificing myself, nor how to confront & express myself without feeling I was a threat to my relationships.
Been a child who didn't feel safe, who had a heightened & constantly alert nervous system, who felt everything too intensely, and didn't know how to lower her guard & just be an honest, vulnerable, & a tad too intense, "faulty" human.
Been a child that felt quite "different" growing up, socially & neurologically
(and at times, felt a bit "broken").
Been a child who grew up surrounded by a whole ton of gender-based, societal canons, & rejected them simply because they didn't feel comfortable.
Been a teenager who discovered later on that low sexual attraction & activity does not mean you have a problem, & that both sexuality and relational patterns are not static & can change with time and people.
Been a young adult who very early on, lost her group of friends (& luckily found others who aligned more with my developing self).
& been an adult who started truly knowing herself and her story, & building who she wanted to be (through everything that she already was & had been), through years of therapy.
Welcome to Asian Psychology in Barcelona, the little space I'm hoping to create with & for you, especially if you too have encountered intercultural, linguistic, gender or sexual orientation-based, and/or intergenerational barriers.
Not only as someone who has studied, trained, & experienced years on how to accompany people through all this, but as someone who has gone through all these things too, & who knows and can share how it feels from within.
Psychologists don't need to have "gone through it" to be good psychologists, but it helps. Because I, too, have felt that, at some point, purely theoretical talk & tips from "just" an expert, have too often felt too cold & distant, with words of understanding that have, again, often felt too empty.
And while I'm still a bit of all those things I've been growing up —& will never stop being, because all of that is at the base of everything I was and will be able to construct afterward—, I can now also assuredly say that there exists a way out.
If not to live more happily then, at least, to live more comfortably — if you'll allow me to see those parts of you and, most importantly, if you allow yourself to accept those parts of you ❤
What do i offer? / services & FEES:
Individual therapy (one on one)
One-on-one work about any topic, whether it has to do with your singular person and daily life, your way of expressing yourself, your relationships, environment, etc., but creating a space to address it solely through you, without anyone else intervening.
(If deemed necessary, joint sessions can sporadically take place to further work on topics that can be reinforced by an external figure, other than the therapist and the client.)
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Online at 55€/h
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In-person at 65€/h
Family therapy (collective)
Sessions working mainly with at least 2 members of a family (or any definition of a collective similar to it) — regarding anything that may have to do with communication, relational dynamics, disagreeing opinions or ways of doing, certain response-patterns toward other family members, etc.
(Individual sessions can take place within a family process, if it is deemed more beneficial and a safer place to address or further gain knowledge about a certain topic.)
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Online (only punctual, sporadic consultations) at 45€/h
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In-person (sporadic consultations / durable therapy) at 75€/h
** (Special prices can be considered for people with financial difficulties, taking into account the severity of the case, too.
24-hour-cancellation policy applies for in-person sessions.)
Group spaces / Professional training or talks (on-demand)
If you would like for a group of people, a team, or simply you and a friend / colleague are interested in learning & gaining more knowledge about any topic related to:
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(East) Asian communities (relationships, family, values, emotions, thought patterns, gesture meanings, relationship with health...),
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(A)sexuality (sexuality in general, LGBTQIA+, & how it all ultimately relates to us, everything, & everyone) + Non-conventional relational models and practices (non-monogamies, polyamory, relational anarchy, open relationships, fetishes...),
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Migration & interculturality (cultural grieves, identity, shocks... — a space for sharing, understanding, & conciliating),
Price to be determined, depending on:
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Online or in-person
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Length of the session (minimum 1h)
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Number of attendees (minimum 2 people)
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Modality:
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Mostly informative (includes materials)
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Mostly practical (includes materials)
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Group counselling (these can be recurrent)
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** Please, book at least one month in advance.
Then hit me up! Spreading knowledge and speaking up about these lesser known topics is one of my greatest drives, and as long as there is even a single person interested in these topics, I will be more than glad to share what I know (& learn from any interaction that may arise from these formative sessions).
** If there is any topic you'd like me to speak about but were unsure about whether I'd be able to, message me and we can discuss it without any compromise! 😊
About what? / specialized in:
** Specialized in teenagers, adults, & families, and in both intercultural & autochthonous population.
Migration (1st / 2nd / 3rd generation)
Migration in itself, does not suppose a problem.
But, there are (sadly, increasingly) too many difficulties associated to migration & any descendant of migrants.
From laws & procedures; to socioeconomical inequities; to an unexpected downgrade of lifestyle that leads to a disparity between reality, expectations, & dreams;
struggles to "save face" in front of those who remained in the country of origin, expectant of your success, robbing you at the same time of the people & places you used to run to when you needed support;
the feeling of loneliness; of impotence when something happens in your country of origin & you can't be there;
the feeling of guilt or betraying your people / country of origin, either because you're "living a better life", or integrating "a bit too much" of your country of residence, sometimes even forgetting parts of your country of origin;
the yearning (of food, people, smells, scenery, sounds, animals, climate, the language, ...);
the mental & even bodily turmoil that comes with not knowing anymore where you belong to (or want to belong to);
the struggle of finding a new circle or home in a society that keeps viewing you as different, or even hostile...;
or the mere discrimination for simply looking, speaking, dressing, celebrating, or acting differently, or just
being from a different piece of land.
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As 2nd / 3rd generation (or children of) migrants, we may experience all this too, just a bit differently.
We may feel these when relating with our family or parents. We may experience these when watching our parents just go through the world.
We may feel these condition how people regard and interact with us (in jobs, academic settings, or just social situations), & we may see these affect our relationships.
And the most, we may feel these when trying to figure out who we are, when trying to define our identity, what we're capable of, what's our sexuality, what we want out of life,
or just trying to make our body & mind feel as one — a bit more consonant, as opposed to the dissonance & internal conflict we've felt probably all our lives.
Parenting / Family relationships or dynamics
Parenting and family dynamics are two different things, yet inevitably linked or mutually influenced.
Parenting concerns all those practices (emotional, social, intellectual, relational, behavioral, routines, values, etc.) that take place when raising a child, usually with the goal of ensuring an optimal development toward what each family considers to be a functional & adaptative adult.
Working on parenting can look like the caregivers seeking for advice on how to manage certain situations you may
be lost, doubtful, or fearful with;
to improve your set of parental skills, because you feel you've already tried everything but it still doesn't work;
to balance out the weight that each caregiver is carrying & even soften conflict among caregivers due to parental burnout or a feeling of disparity in responsibilities;
to prevent a future outcome in your child that you may be afraid or lost on how to address;
or a teenager / adult who has felt "wronged", hurt, misunderstood, "guilted", or generally unmet by their parents when they were a child (or now, too).
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Family dynamics, on the other hand, do not only account for parenting, which can also highly define the dynamics in a family. It concerns everything regarding every single member of the family, on a ground that sees everybody's voice, context, mood, reasoning, feelings, values, thought & communication patterns, sensitivity, self & co-regulation, ..., as equally important & with a reason to be.
This can look like individual work on how you position yourself within your family system and what point you want to reach at that given moment — accounting for your personal values & feelings, as well as your family's.
Or as family work where we sit with more than one member of the family (whomever is comfortable and/or motivated to come) to share, listen, dissect, and explore together the different impacts that each member has had on others. Both as an understanding of what has been happening, as well as a vehicle toward solutions.
(A)sexuality / Non-conventional relationships
Asexuality has risen as a legitimized sexual orientation over the past decades (thus, delegitimizing it as a problem / disorder / result of trauma, & differentiating
it from celibacy / "not in the mood").
Simultaneously, it's shed light to the hypersexualized standards that our societies hold — something that is still not very much recognized by said societies, & that deeply conditions what is viewed as "healthy / wellbeing".
Coming out as asexual, demi or graysexual;
having low or zero experiences of sexual attraction;
feeling a contradiction between sexual expression, activity, & sexual orientation;
not understanding, feeling, nor doing what most of your same-aged-colleagues are doing sexually;
feeling different, judged or discriminated for not wanting or agreeing to sexual contact or acts;
family or social relationships with allosexual people; ...,
are some of the things we can address.
On a similar note, asexuality has helped visibilize non-conventional relational models that challenge the historical normalization through monogamy, of practices or thought patterns that aren't necessarily fair nor nourishing in a relationship — including emotional, communicational, organizational, social, and sexual components altogether.
How to transition, handle, cope, care for, and establish limits & agreements towards or if you're already in open relationships, polyamory, polygamy, relational anarchy, BDSM, ..., are aspects we can work through in this space.
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Because all these concepts still feel new or threatening to the majority of people, it can be hard to have your experiences seen and accepted, or to simply feel that you can speak —or simply ask— openly, without the fear of being judged, misunderstood, weirded at, invalidated, or rejected.
If any of this is in any way near to what you've experienced simply existing in this world, let me know at asiantherapybcn@gmail.com.
Let's make this a place where not only can your experience be affirmed, validated, and made sense out of.
But also find ways to live more truthfully and comfortably, while being 100% aware that the world outside may not be as comfortable nor welcoming to everybody's truths.
in what languages?
You have enough struggles already that have led you here — let's not make the language we speak one of them.
Català / Catalan
Castellano / Spanish
English
廣東話 / Cantonese
日本語 / Japanese
what are my credentials? /
professional background
Academic achievements
Bachelor degree in Psychology, at University of Barcelona (4 years).
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Honors in Final Research Thesis, "Cultural differences in parenting practices & the formation of child attachment: Comparative psycho-cultural analysis of parenting models in East Asia & Western countries".
Master's degree in Social-Cognitive Therapy: Systemic & Constructivist Training, at University of Barcelona (4 years).
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Internships at Sant Pau Hospital (School of Family Therapy), Hestia - International Psychotherapy Center, & CAP Manso (primary care center).
+ continuing...
Relevant professional experience
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3 years as a Family psychologist with caregivers, children, and adolescents in the Public Catalan Child Protection System.
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2 years as a private Intercultural and multilingual psychologist with migrants and people from different socioeconomical backgrounds.
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7 years as the Co-founder, team coordinator, speaker, & spokesperson of Migraespacio, a volunteer group dedicated to creating and providing psychopedagogic tools & first-hand knowledge on the psychosocial aspects of migration, within the area of Barcelona & the European Union.
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+ 3,5 years assisting and collaborating in various investigations, as well as disseminating on the topics of mental health, migration, LGBTQIA+, & child development, with both particulars and public institutions.
** Recognized by the Official College of Psychologists in Catalonia (Col·legi Oficial de Psicòlegs de Catalunya), with registry number 29318.
Why come to therapy or seek professional guidance?
Simple,
"Because I'm still making progress."
Pau Casals (Catalan cellist), at 93 years old