Mental health is an important issue for everyone’s well-being, which can also affect the family and community you are in to varying degrees. Some studies have shown that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to report that they did not receive mental health treatment because of the stigma and shame around mental illness in their community. For immigrants, the mental health challenges may be greater — another study noted that English proficiency affects the quality of mental health care access and duration of untreated disorders for Asian Americans. Additionally, a lack of awareness about available mental health-related resources and services is a significant barrier to Asians getting the help they need.
Also Read: Chinese Truck Drivers Face Extra Barriers Finding Mental Health Care
This article lists mental health resources in New York City that offer bilingual services designed to help Chinese immigrants who are not fluent in English. This piece is part of Documented’s comprehensive resource guide for Chinese immigrants. The list below is sorted in alphabetical order. If you know of an organization that also provides related services but is not on this list, please feel free to email us at april.xu@documentedny.com.
Mental Health Services for Chinese Speakers
For over 70 years, Bleuler Psychotherapy Center (BPC) has aimed to provide high-quality, low-cost mental health services for children, youth, adults, couples and families in Queens and the greater NYC area. Based on community needs, BPC expanded its offerings to encompass alcohol and substance abuse addiction treatments through the creation of Bleuler Chemical Dependency Recovery offerings (BCD). The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), respectively, have fully licensed the BPC and BCD programs. The center offers collaborative treatment and referral services in different languages, including Mandarin. You can visit their website to make an appointment. Telemedicine walk-ins and open access are available anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Forest Hill location: 104-70 Queens Blvd., Suite 200, Forest Hills, NY 11375
Phone: 718-275-6010
Jackson Heights location: 37-64 72nd St., Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Phone: 718-335-3434
Email: info@bleulerpc.org
Established in 1886, University Settlement serves 40,000 New Yorkers on the Lower East Side and in Brooklyn annually to build on their strengths as they achieve healthy, stable, and remarkable lives. It offers mental health services including individual and family therapy, crisis prevention and intervention, skill building and Positive Parenting Program. Services are for youth age 21 and below and are provided to families who live in Manhattan or Brooklyn and have Medicaid.
Address: 184 Eldridge St., New York, NY 10002
Phone: 917-583-3266
Email: ft@universitysettlement.org
Gouverneur Health is a public hospital located near Manhattan Chinatown and offers services including health screening, psychiatric assessment and treatment, addiction treatment and crisis intervention and complex care management.
Address: 227 Madison St., Manhattan, NY 10002
Phone: 212-238-7332
Gracie Square Hospital’s inpatient Asian Psychiatry Program provides culturally sensitive and appropriate mental health services to Chinese and other Asian communities. The program is guided by a multicultural clinical team and support staff and provides translation services in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Chinese ethnic dialects. Upon discharge, bilingual social workers familiar with all available mental health resources within the Asian community will arrange culturally appropriate aftercare plans for patients by working closely with individual patients, families and caregivers. The unit is decorated with Asian art. Patients will receive Chinese food and tea. Educational materials and newspapers are available in English and Asian languages.
Address: 420 E. 76th St., New York, NY 10021
Phone: 212-434-5415
Email: dvd9001@nyp.org
NYC Well offers free, confidential mental health support. You can talk to a counselor by phone, text, or online chat. The program is available in more than 200 languages and provides 24/7/365 mental health and addiction recovery services.
Contact: Text “WELL” to 65173; call 1-888-NYC-WELL; or chat now.
Founded in 1898, Hamilton-Madison House is a non-profit community center aiming to improve the quality of life in New York. Located in the Chinatown/Lower East Side Two Bridges neighborhood, it seeks to promote the well-being of vulnerable populations including older adults, children, people with illness or disability, new immigrants and refugees and people who are unemployed. It provides critical, timely and culturally competent services with programs ranging from behavioral health services, senior services and care for caregivers.
Address: 253 South St., 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10002
Phone: 212-349-3724
New York University Langone Sunset Terrace Family Health Center provides services including substance use treatment, behavioral healthcare, mental health assessment and pharmacy services. It also provides translation services for those in need.
Address: 514 49th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11220
Make an appointment: 718-630-7942
Behavioral health: 718-431-2600
Email: allison.devlin@nyulangone.org
Founded in 2004, Garden of Hope is devoted to caring and rebuilding the lives of people who have been exposed to domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Its services are specifically targeted toward the growing Chinese communities in the NYC region. It provides services including crisis intervention, case management, caring counseling, safe shelters for women and children and counseling for youth who have witnessed domestic violence. Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese and Hokkien, the 12 counselors and case managers have successfully provided assistance to some 700 to 900 survivors each year to help them overcome the deep emotional trauma of abuse.
Make an appointment before visiting its office in Queens and Brooklyn (confidential locations).
Helpline: 1-877-990-8595
Phone: 718-321-8862
Email: info@gohny.org
Mailing address: P.O. Box 520048, Flushing, NY 11352
New York City Family Justice Center (Queens)
Address: 126-02 82nd Ave., Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Opening hours: Tuesdays 9 a.m. — 5 p.m. (walk-in/by appointment)
New York City Family Justice Center (Brooklyn)
Address: 350 Jay St., Brooklyn, NY 11201
Opening hours: Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (walk-in/by appointment)
The bilingual and bicultural therapists of the Asian Outreach Program at the Child Center of New York break down language barriers and stigma to provide mental health and addiction recovery services for Asian children and families. All therapists have experienced the trauma of immigration themselves and have an in-depth understanding of the clients’ cultures and languages. The center uses cognitive behavioral therapy, psychopharmacology, substance use treatment and play therapy to treat mental illness.
Flushing: 140-15B Sanford Ave, 2nd Fl., Flushing, NY 11355
Phone: 718-358-8288
Senior program director: Cho-Yung (Cathy) Wu (cathywu@childcenterny.org)
Woodside: 43-08 52nd St., 2nd Fl., Woodside, NY 11377
Phone: 718-358-8288
Email: Jessica Barrera-Morales (jessicamorales@childcenterny.org)
The New York Coalition for Asian Mental Health (NYCAAMH) aims to raise the standard of mental health services provided to New York metropolitan area Asian American populations. Their mission is to address the unmet mental health care needs and disparities in service among Asian Americans.
Community Counseling and Meditation currently has five licensed outpatient mental health and addiction clinics with 150 licensed clinicians, including psychiatrists, psychologists and licensed clinical social workers. Clinical services include individual, group and family counseling, psychological, psychiatric and psychosocial assessment and diagnosis, psychopharmacology and HIV/AIDS services. It also provides services in Mandarin and Cantonese.
For more information and referral, please contact:
Shu Zeng (Development Director): (718) 802-0666, ext. 222; szeng@ccmnyc.org
Chinese-American Family Alliance for Mental Health (CAFAMH) organizes family support groups every fourth Tuesday of the month for caregivers of those with mental illness. The group gatherings offer a safe space for carers to connect with one another. It also has a psychoeducational component specially designed for New York Chinese community. CAFAMH’s mission is to educate the community on a variety of mental health issues and coping strategies, including How to Communicate Effectively with Someone Who Doesn’t Want Help and Self Care.
Address: 168 Centre St., New York, NY 10013
Phone: 917-773-8624
Email: info@cafamh.org
Mind Connections has counselors who can provide services, including individual, marital and family counseling services, in Mandarin and Cantonese. Online remote and in-person counseling services are available in our Manhattan office for youth and adults, especially for Chinese and other Asian communities, new immigrants, and international students. Therapists provide counselors for depression therapy and treatment, anxiety therapy and treatment, OCD therapy and treatment, PTSD therapy and treatment, stress management, anger management, eating disorders, insomnia/sleep disorders therapy and treatment, bipolar disorder disorders therapy and treatment and more.
Address: 600 3rd Ave. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10016
Free 15-minute phone call: 347-542-8226
Email: contact@mindconnectionsnyc.com
Founded in 2011, Chinese American Sunshine House (CSH) is a non-profit empowering those coping with mental illness through their recovery and educating the community about mental health to provide a culturally-sensitive environment for the New York City Chinese community.
Address: 6304 5th Ave. 1st Fl., Brooklyn, NY 11220; 837 58th St. 3rd Fl., Brooklyn, NY 11220
Phone: 917-969-7018
Email: chinesesunshinehouse@gmail.com
WeChat: CSHNYC
Charles B. Wang Community Health Center is a non-profit and federally qualified health center providing bilingual and bicultural healthcare services to people in medically underserved communities. With five locations in Lower Manhattan and Queens, it offers behavioral and mental health and other medical services.
Address and opening hours: https://www.cbwchc.org/location_ch.asp
Womankind (formerly known as the New York Asian Women’s Center) helps survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual violence rise above trauma and build a path to healing. The staff and volunteers speak 18+ Asian languages and dialects and provide services including a 24/7 toll-free multilingual helpline, safe and confidential emergency housing, wellness programs, creative arts therapy, support groups and more.
24-hour multilingual helpline: 888-888-7702
Text Womankind for help in: English 929-207-5907; Chinese 929-207-5901
Manhattan office: 9 Mott St., ste. 200, New York, NY 10013 (Monday — Friday: 9 a.m. — 5 p.m.)
Queens office: 86-26 Broadway, 2nd Fl., Elmhurst, NY 11373 (Monday: 9 a.m. — 6 p.m., Wednesday: 9 a.m. — 5 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday: 11 a.m. — 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. — 6 p.m.)
Brooklyn office: 341 39th St., ste. 402, Brooklyn, NY 11232 (Monday — Friday: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.)
