SPEAKER: I wanted to welcome you to the Counseling and Psychological Services at George Mason University's podcast series where we're going to be interviewing various campus departments and stakeholders. And we can shed some light on what we do here at George Mason. 

We're lucky today to have Dr. Huh with us. 

GLORIA HUH: I'm Dr. Gloria Huh, a staff psychologist at CAPS. 

SPEAKER: Dr. Huh, when you think of barriers in terms of accessing services here at CAPS at George Mason, what tends to come up for you? 

GLORIA HUH: What I've noticed is that a lot of times if you come from a background-- and it doesn't always have to be populations of color. I mean, there are a lot of different family structures that have created a way, that relational, you don't express your feelings. You don't make sense of your feelings. You just-- 

SPEAKER: Suppress. 

GLORIA HUH: Yeah, suppress, right. So a lot of times, they're actually not aware of their emotions. So you literally have to start from scratch. You have to explain to them that it was actually protective for you to be the way you are. 

And you have to honor that, because it aligns with culturally how they grew up, is to suppress. That's how they survive. That's how their family survived, especially in really stressful situations. You can't emote in trauma. You can't. Your body protectively puts it aside so that you can survive. 

So you help them understand that it's actually a protective thing for them. But it's also not working. So we help them to have compassion on their lack of ability to understand and express their emotions and work towards how we can make them have a better relationship with their feelings and expressing their emotions that doesn't feel like they're going against their cultural values that they grew up with. 

SPEAKER: Dr. Huh, it seems like multiculturalism is a significant and important facet of the work that you do. If you could speak to what some of the diversity factors that you've seen here at Mason, what that's been like for you. And how you integrate this component into your work. 

GLORIA HUH: In this university, you never really know how anxiety is manifesting their thought process, what cultural values they're stuck with that are making it difficult for them to move forward. So it's just really interesting how creative you have to be when you work with diverse populations. So I'm always on my feet, which I think is fun and rewarding, because I feel like I'm refining my ability to really connect with clients and really understand how to provide counseling that's culturally competent and not do some cookie cutter approach that really doesn't fit with a diverse group of clients. 

SPEAKER: So by naming this in some of your work with clients, what does that do for them? I would imagine that it enables a trusting relationship. 

GLORIA HUH: Well, trust is to me gold, right? And I think that trust is earned. And it's not assumed for me to have, right? And I think that they think that I'm assuming that they have to trust me. So if I don't name and then put it on the table, like, hey, I know I'm a stranger. I know I have no idea about you, and there's a lot of things that you might fear. I'm here to earn your trust. 

And one of the ways, especially when you're working with trauma and when you're working with people from marginalized identities, honesty and genuineness is key. If you don't name things, there will be distorted assumptions that will be made about you. And those will be the things that direct their next steps. 

And so for me, since I know that, I'm like, OK, what can I name? And what can I specifically say that I think is a barrier for us to build a trusting relationship? And then capitalize on that. 

SPEAKER: Dr. Huh, what keeps you doing the work here at CAPS at Mason? 

GLORIA HUH: So what keeps me doing the work is it's a calling. It's not a job. So the reason why I got into the field was I grew up seeing a lot of people in my community-- and when I talk about community, I say my Korean immigrant community that I grew up in-- having so many mental health issues and having nowhere to go and seeing a lot of people just pretty much basically fall apart before my eyes. 

And then I worked in really reputable places. And I noticed that a lot of populations of color, especially who are in need of services, actually didn't get connected. There were reasons that were preventing them from actually-- even if it was free, they wouldn't seek services. 

And so to me, it started to spark a curiosity of, OK, I know counseling helps. Why are people not getting connected? And how can I be a resource to make sure that whatever way, shape, or form I can be a part of this movement that helps people who are in pain getting healing. 

SPEAKER: What would be a message that you might give to a prospective client who's a little bit hesitant about coming into receive services? 

GLORIA HUH: If I were to try to convince somebody who is hesitant to come, I would say, there is no pressure. I understand your hesitance. I was there once before. And guess what? It is scary. 

But I will be there with you. I will sit there. I will earn your trust, try at least. And my main goal is to make sure that you see yourself differently and that you start to have hope to live a more fulfilling life. And I mean, I say this with my clients all the time. I'm like, I'm your number one fan. 

I'm Dr. Gloria Huh, a staff psychologist at CAPS.