BUT WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY?: NAVIGATING MENTAL HEALTH, IDENTITY, LOVE, AND FAMILY BETWEEN CULTURES 

Charis welcomes Sahaj Kaur Kohli in conversation with Dr. Mariel Buqué for a discussion of But What Will People Say?: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures, a deeply personal, paradigm-shifting book rethinking traditional therapy and self-care, creating much-needed space for those left out of the narrative. This event is co-sponsored by Raksha, Inc. Raksha's mission is to promote a stronger and healthier South Asian community through confidential support services, education, and advocacy. Raksha works towards healing, empowerment, and justice for survivors of violence.
Writer and therapist Sahaj Kaur Kohli grew up knowing exactly what it means to straddle multiple cultures at once. Like many children of immigrants, she has often found herself plagued by questions: Can I establish my own values and embrace where I come from? Is prioritizing my mental health really rejecting my culture? How do I set boundaries and care for myself when family and community mean everything? Even after becoming a therapist herself, she saw those same gaps in the mental health world, leading her to wonder, like so many children of immigrants: what about us?
While conversations around mental health are becoming increasingly open, our models remain largely Eurocentric and focused on individuality. Sahaj has sought to challenge these long-held models, using deep personal reflection, therapy, community building, and a whole lot of trial and error, eventually navigating her own way to understanding and acceptance. Here, she shows us how to get there, all the while reminding us that personal healing is inextricably connected to collective healing.
But What Will People Say? elegantly weaves together personal narrative, anecdotal analysis, and comprehensive research. Sahaj offers advice and tools for everything from navigating generational trauma, guilt, and boundaries, to breaking down stigmas around therapy and celebrating cultural duality. Democratizing and decolonizing the way we think about mental health and self-help, Sahaj’s incredible work is nothing short of a revolution.
Sahaj Kaur Kohli is the founder of Brown Girl Therapy (@browngirltherapy), the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for adult children of immigrants, a licensed therapist, and a columnist for the Washington Post’s advice column Ask Sahaj. Sahaj’s words and work have been featured in Today, Good Morning America, CNN, The New York Times, HuffPost, and others. Sahaj also serves as a consultant, educator and international speaker. She has sat on panels and delivered workshops and keynotes for The White House, Amazon, Google, Athenahealth, Merck, JPMorgan Chase, LinkedIn, UNICEF, among others.
Dr. Mariel Buqué is an Afro-Latina psychologist and CEO of Break the Cycle of Trauma, where her mission is to help reduce the recurrence of Intergenerational ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). She earned her doctoral degree in psychology at Columbia University, where she also trained as a holistic mental health fellow within Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). In this role, she helped to build and implement an integrated system of care in specialty clinics across Columbia Medical, with a focus on helping Black and Latine community members overcome trauma and build better overall health. She continues to carry this mission into her consultation with health organizations and Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Buqué is the author of the bestselling book Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma.
Dr. Buqué is widely sought out for her clinical expertise and trauma approach and her work, newsletter, and can be found at www.drmarielbuque.com.