Advancing culturally grounded, faith-informed approaches to suicide prevention and mental health.
My research focuses on suicide prevention and how culture and faith shape the ways people understand distress and seek support. I work across military, immigrant, older-adult, and faith communities to build interventions that are evidence-based, culturally grounded, and practical for real-world settings.
I currently lead or support several projects, including:
- Wero Project (Principal Investigator) — A suicide prevention and social-connection initiative for Korean American older adults carried out in partnership with Korean churches and community leaders.
- Soul Shop for Korean Churches (Trainer) — As part of the Wero Project, I’m leading the effort to adapt a national faith-based suicide prevention program for use in Korean American congregations.
- Chaplains-CARE (Co-Principal Investigator) — A U.S. military study evaluating how chaplains can deliver effective suicide intervention skills grounded upon cognitive behavioral therapy principles.
- Spiritual Competency Training in Mental Health (Cultural Adaptation Consultant) — supporting the global adaptation (including South Korea) of a training program that equips mental health professionals to work effectively with clients from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds.
Across all of this work, my goal is to help communities reduce stigma, strengthen connection, and create culturally meaningful pathways to safety and healing.
If you’d like to explore more of my academic work, browse my published articles here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1fsznzhXbBrkg/bibliography/public/