Ep. 234: The Hyphenated Life: Dr. Han on Intersectional Identity & Mental Health

Episode Title: The Hyphenated Life — Dr. Han on Intersectional Identity, Queer Mental Health, and Surviving the In-Between Guest: Dr. Han (drhanren.com) Zach sits down with Dr. Han — psychologist, author, and TikTok creator — who specializes in liberation psychology and anti-oppressive care for children of immigrants, queer people, and Asian Americans. Dr. Han grew up as a 1.5 generation immigrant, born in China and raised in Michigan, and came to her queerness later in life. That lived experience of never quite fitting in any one box is exactly what her upcoming book is about. In this conversation, they get into: What it means to be a "hyphenate" — someone who holds multiple marginalized identities and refuses to collapse into just one The psychology behind queer and immigrant overachieving and perfectionism — and when ambition becomes burnout How Trump 1.0 shaped the demand for specialized mental health care — and what Trump 2.0 is doing to the communities Dr. Han serves The numbing out, dissociation, and nihilism she's seeing in clients right now Trans and non-binary clients in Texas: the painful reality of going back into hiding or planning to leave the state The DEI rollback and what the defunding of Pride events and corporate ERG programs actually costs marginalized communities How Dr. Han built her TikTok presence during the pandemic — and the exhaustion of staying on that hamster wheel Managing her own mental health while absorbing the weight of other people's trauma Dr. Han's new book, The Hyphenated Life: Bridging the In-Between Spaces of Intersectional Identities, is out June 16th and available for pre-order now. 📖 Pre-order: drhanren.com 🛒 Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop Podcast song by SIXFOOT 5: https://www.sixfoot5prod.com Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sixfoot-5/1551774977 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rHMzoU0G0fLhaBsrQiOOY?si=laSZ5hiKTYubJJyhrzf2JQ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.