Healing the Whole Family: A Graphic Story Intervention for AAPI Mental Health

Healing the Whole Family (HTWF) is a graphic novel about Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) intergenerational and mental health. HTWF is a project sponsored by Yale Compassionate Home, Action Together (CHATogether), a research group focused on AAPI mental health. HTWF describes one girl’s struggle with her mental health and her family who, in the beginning, do not acknowledge mental health or illness. The story follows her struggles to understand her family’s dynamics and how intergenerational trauma within her family plays a large role. HTWF aims to: 1) portray a relatable story for AAPI families about mental health and illness; 2) educate AAPI families on topics such as intergenerational trauma, attachment theory, the circle of security, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); 3) encourage future conversations about mental health within AAPI families. The audience for HTWF is purposefully multigenerational and includes AAPI teenagers, young adults, and caregivers.This paper will first introduce HTWF and provide a summary of the graphic novel. Following sections will include a discussion about the intersection of Graphic Medicine and mental health and illness, analysis of visual metaphors (with corresponding excerpts shown from the graphic novel), and clinical implications of arts-based interventions in child and adolescent mental health.