Today, I’m interviewing Dr. Deborah Ma (aka Dr. Deb)  of Puzzle Acupuncture in San Francisco. Dr. Deb is a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and a licensed acupuncturist with over 17 years of clinical experience. Her journey in medicine began at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine—the world’s top TCM university—where she earned both a medical degree and PhD. She spent a decade working at Beijing United Family Hospital, China’s premier private hospital, where she collaborated daily with OB/GYNs, neurologists, and pediatricians.

Caregiving is deeply relational work. Whether you’re caring for aging parents, chronically ill family members, or loved ones with disability, you carry both visible tasks and invisible emotional burdens. In APIDA communities, these burdens often overlap with cultural expectations of filial piety, sacrifice, and duty.

I’m starting a new virtual support group for adults who identify as mixed-race, multiethnic, or multicultural Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Desi American (APIDA).

It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time…

We hear a lot about trauma these days. We talk a lot less about intergenerational trauma, historical trauma and complex post traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).