Dr. Marinette Asuncion-Uy: Mental Health, Decolonized
From anxiety to ancestral wisdom, Dr. Asuncion-Uy is helping a generation of Filipinos find the words—and the way back home.
Dr. Marinette Asuncion-Uy, known lovingly by her community as Dr. Nette, has made it her mission to help Filipinos navigate anxiety, depression, and trauma.
The Florida-based Filipino-American psychologist does it through her private practice—she is licensed in 43 states—and also online, through her platform The Brown Psych.
On thebrownpsych.com and its growing social media presence, Dr. Asuncion-Uy decolonizes mental health by weaving cultural identity, ancestral wisdom, and community care. “I have walked through my own landscapes of anxiety, trauma, and healing… I’ve done Western healing, but something was missing,” she says.
Agnes Lopez
Dr. Asuncion-Uy challenges Western-centric models of therapy that often overlook the lived realities of Filipino and diasporic communities, offering a space that affirms collective history, honors intergenerational trauma, and reframes healing as both a personal and cultural act of liberation.
“My accountant, he’s white, and when I told him about The Brown Psych and how it’s for Filipino mental health, he goes, ‘Well, isn’t all mental health the same?’”
It’s not, says Dr. Asuncion-Uy. “Mental health does not exist in a vacuum. For us Filipinos, our wounds are not just personal, they are collective and historical. Colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy—these live in our bodies. Mental health cannot be separated from racism, poverty, migration. These forces create trauma, and trauma shapes how we see ourselves.”
“Mental health does not exist in a vacuum. For us Filipinos, our wounds are not just personal, they are collective and historical.”
Dr. Asuncion-Uy, who was born and raised in Marinduque, knows this all too well. “When I was in the Philippines, I was taught that my nose is ugly, my brown color is ugly, the way I speak English is uneducated… We have this notion that the closer you are to whiteness, the more beautiful you are. You demean your own people, because you have a colonized mindset.”
This legacy of colonization also influences how we relate with one another. Dr. Asuncion-Uy noticed this after she moved to California as a young adult. “I’ve witnessed the recurring theme of disconnection between generations, especially between first-generation immigrants and their children who were born in the U.S. ‘I haven’t talked to my dad in years,’ some of them would say. It’s really their own internal conflict and pain being passed on to the younger generation.”
Agnes Lopez
These are topics and stories that The Brown Psych covers. “True healing lies in reclaiming our stories, connecting with our roots, and understanding the systems of oppression that shape our pain,” she adds. “That’s why mental health is political. People think, ‘Just give them medication and it’s done.’ No. It’s mind, body and spirit. We’re Filipinos. You cannot separate the spirit, the kaluluwa, from a Pinoy.”
Also important for healing is community. “We were not meant to exist as isolated selves.” This is what inspired the birth of The Brown Psych’s The Hilom Collective, which provides a space for Filipinos all over the world to gather and heal together. Dr. Asuncion-Uy says, “Mental health is also a matter of belonging… We were never meant to heal alone.”
There are many people who find refuge in The Brown Psych. “The response sometimes blows my mind,” shares Dr. Asuncion-Uy, who is mindful about reminding her followers that while social media can be a great resource, it’s not a substitute for counseling or therapy.
Agnes Lopez
To those who are struggling, Dr. Asuncion-Uy says, “You are not broken. You are responding in the best way you can to a world that often forgets how to be gentle. Mental health is not just about what happens in a therapist’s office. It’s about making small, consistent choices that say, ‘My peace matters. My body matters. And my story is worth honoring.’”
Makeup: Nicole Stetter. Hair: Brooke Rouse.
