ACS & South Asian Community of NY

Greetings DoSAA members! I am in the middle of my third and final year on the Executive Committee.It has been a privilege to be DoSAA Chair these last few months and work with an incredible team. Atthe AAPA and APA conferences in Toronto this past summer, we held social hours to assess the currentneeds of our South Asian mental health colleagues. We heard you loud and clear that you want greaterconnection within the community. We want you to know that we are listening!As a result of those discussions, we decided to make this year’ s DoSAA goals focused on creating amore visible platform so our members can connect more with each other. We are currently launchingDoSAA social gatherings in the Vancouver and Chicago areas. We would like to expand that to othercities that have a large South Asian concentration, but we need your help. If you live in a city that youwould like to organize this, please let us know and we will support you in making it happen. The morewe work together with our members, the sooner we can build these networks to support and empowerone another. We have also increased our activity on our Facebook page and DoSAA listerv. Please makesure to chime in on these venues. We cannot have a dialogue if we don’ t hear from you!Within the pages of this newsletter you will find a number of achievements that highlight the amazingwork of many of our members. We hope you enjoy learning and being inspired by them. We alsowelcome your engagement – whether it’ s submitting some of your own work for future newsletters,becoming a part of DoSAA as a member or Executive Committee officer, and/or sharing with us yourquestions, thoughts, ideas, or dialogue. If you aren’t sure how to get involved, but you want to, send usan email. We would love to connect with you to match your strengths to our DoSAA involvement. We recognize that we are in a political environment that is allowing the rhetoric of hate, fear, andviolence to permeate our country. Our Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and African American brothers andsisters are being targeted in hate crimes (violence, bullying, discrimination) throughout the U.S. Nowmore than ever, we need to stand together in solidarity and raise our collective voice against ignorance,bigotry, and hate. DoSAA is committed to continuing to create a safe space for us to discuss ourconcerns and support each other through this confusing and stressful time. The better we take care ofourselves, the better we can take care of our community.Wishing everyone the best in 2016. May it bring you new insights and relationships that help you liveyour life to the fullest. Sincerely,Puni Kalra, PhDChair Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty Letter Frm The Chair: Pni Kalra