Queer Identity Across Cultures with Sil Chen

This week, Diana chats with Sil Chen about exploring queer identity across cultures. Sil shares her personal journey growing up in Taiwan and the cultural adjustments she faced after immigrating to the U.S. She opens up about what shifted her from a career in biotechnology to social work, and how her family reacted. Diana and Sil delve into cultural norms and expectations around queerness and coming out between Taiwan and the U.S. They also discuss how beauty standards, public displays of affection like hand-holding, and dating—especially for Asian men—differ between these two cultures.

Sil Si-Wei Chen (she/her), MA, LCSW-R, is a non-binary, queer Taiwanese psychotherapist and emotional wellness coach offering teletherapy in New York and coaching services worldwide. A certified Gestalt therapist integrating Internal Family Systems and Buddhist Psychology in her practice, Sil specializes in working with creatives and engineers in the Asian-American and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as with queer and interracial couples. Connect with Sil at silchentherapy.com

Bridges Mental Health connects Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Americans (APISA) with culturally responsive mental health professionals and resources. We hope to make mental health care more accessible and approachable across the Asian diaspora.
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