Mental Health In Minnesota

Mental Health In Minnesota


Wellness in Color: “Blurring Tradition” (Houa Moua)

November 15, 2019

Welcome to "Wellness in Color," a podcast series that explores perspectives on mental health to reshape the cultural language of mental illness.

Interview Guest: Houa Moua

Hosted by: Vang Xor Xiong (Xorr)

Produced by: NAMI Minnesota (namimn.org)

Guest Bio: For Houa Moua, healthy means being happy. From a moderately traditional Hmong household, Houa’s parents and elders believed that most anything could be fixed through shamanic intervention. However, if there are signs of mental illness, it was the doing of your soul or spirits trying to communicate. This is the reason that she believes, Hmong folks don't seek medical treatment for mental health, especially for depression and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and then healing rarely happens. Yet in spite of this, her wellness goals are to have healthy, communicative, and inclusive relationships with family, friends, coworkers, and community.

This episode was recorded on 05/20/2019 at NAMI Minnesota in St. Paul, MN.

For more information and resources on mental illness, education and legislative advocacy please visit the NAMI Minnesota website at namimn.org

Efforts related to "Wellness In Color" podcast episodes were supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health Award Number UL1TR002494. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.