Founder and Group Practice Owner Sarah Suzuki Explains How the “Mass Shooter Mental Illness Myth” Perpetuates White Supremacy
Check out Sarah Suzuki’s widely shared article on how psychological profiles of mass shooters perpetuate White Supremacy (You can find the full article here): “And so, already — the media is pushing the false story that the Atlanta-area perpetrator was driven by “mental illness” — not racism. (See Reuters, Sex addiction, not racial hatred, may…
Read MoreWhat Makes Interracial Couples Different?
On our second date, we went to the Chicago History Museum. They were running an exhibit on race and I wanted to suss out how this White Guy from Wisconsin would react to it. If this wasn’t going to work out, the earlier I knew, the better. Plus, they were free on Tuesdays. Fast forward…
Read MoreTry Everything- The Wisdom of Shakira
One of the things they don’t tell you before becoming a parent is that you are obligated to listen to every Disney song ever created, often multiple times a day. This is how I came to be acquainted with the song Try Everything by Shakira. As I danced around the living room with my son…
Read MoreWhen Self Care Isn’t Enough
The idea of self-care has become more and more popular in recent years. Self-care as it is currently conceptualized is defined as anything we do to help take care of our mental, physical or emotional well-being. A quick Google search pulls up literally hundreds of ideas from yoga, to journaling, to drinking enough water. In…
Read MoreGrief for a Celebrity is Still Grief
I had been working since 5 AM, so the plush chair in front of the large flat-screen television at DePaul Universities Recreation Center was a welcome sight. I was really looking forward to getting off my feet! I’d spent the last 5 hours training and was hoping to get a little lunch in me to…
Read MoreIs My Pandemic Drinking Becoming a Problem?
October is National Emotional Wellness Month. As an alcohol counselor, I have to ask: how is your drinking these days? American adults are drinking 14% more often during the pandemic than 1 year ago, according to a recent report in the JAMA Network Open. Women, in particular, are drinking 17% more frequently than they were…
Read MorePRESS RELEASE: CCC Announces New Executive Director
Chicago, Illinois, October 10, 2020 – Chicago Compass Counseling (“CCC”) welcomes Dennis Nguyen as its new executive director. Nguyen succeeds founder and owner Sarah Suzuki, who served in this capacity since 2017. Nguyen first joined CCC – a Chicago-based group counseling practice dedicated to helping people break free from self-destructive behaviors – in 2018 as…
Read MoreRising Suicides Among Black Residents of Cook County
The Chicago Sun-Times interviewed Matt Lawson on the alarming increase in suicides among Black residents of Cook County. (Check out the full interview here): “Within the first month of George Floyd happening, that conversation became very front and center,” says Matt Lawson, a counselor at Chicago Compass Counseling. “That conversation has led into a lot…
Read MoreBeyond Performative Allyship: On Statement-Making and Organizational Commitments
Our group has been taking time to think about Black Lives Matter and how best to share our stance. It has been particularly interesting to see how various companies have crafted their responses. As a business owner and Asian American POC, I read countless organizational statements last week and asked myself: Why now? I noticed…
Read MoreFarewell, Strategic Accommodation: An Elegy to White Supremacy
What does it mean to live in survival mode, to survive as an Asian American in a racist country? As a child growing up in a white suburb during the 90s “colorblindness” era, I wasted many years strategically accommodating White Supremacy. Wasting energy. Wasting time. Diminishing myself to uphold White Supremacy. Again. And again. While…
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