The Ethnic Minority Well-being Centre offers free one-to-one counselling services in English, Hindi, Urdu, and Nepali. If you would like to find out more, please call/WhatsApp us at:

The Problem 

Within the EM community, of 264,000 people, 20% are defined as poor. The poverty line is based on the monthly family income. For example, A family of 4 is poor if their monthly family income is HK$19,900 but for a family of 6, it would be HK$22,500. 

Through our training for parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Call Mira, we noted there were a large number of people who were suffering from a mental health problems.  

Mothers in our training workshops and women who called would talk about domestic violence, violence against children, and drug and alcohol addiction and sadly, women and children bore the brunt of much pain.  

We realised if the underlying issues of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts, did not get solved, families would collapse. 

But therapy in both the private and public sectors was a terrible option. In the private sector, therapy was prohibitively unaffordable. Those of our clients who had tried the Hospital Authority found that language and culture were other barriers and that there was minimal opportunity for counselling.  

Therefore, in September 2019, we set up the first-ever Ethnic Minority Clinic in Hong Kong called The Ethnic Minority Well-Being Centre to provide direct counselling to our clients in their native languages for free.  

Our Work

The Ethnic Minority Well-being Centre serves those in the ethnic minority community who would like to talk to a counsellor about their mental well-being.  Our counsellors can speak English plus Hindi/ Urdu/Nepali. 

The Ethnic Minority Well-being Centre is a joint project between The Zubin Foundation and the Department of Psychiatry of The University of Hong Kong. As research has never been done in Hong Kong about the mental of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities, we are researching to help us understand the effectiveness of our service so that we can better serve our ethnic minority clients to help us receive funding to continue this free service. 

Some common issues our clients come to talk to us about are: 

• Abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) 
• Anger Management 
• Anxiety 
• Behavioral/Mood Change/Depression
• Study/Career Issues/Unemployment
• Discriminations
• Family/Relationship Conflicts
• Grief and Loss 
• Low Self Esteem
• Social Skill Building
• Stress
• Trauma

Eligibility

• Identify as South Asian or Southeast Asian, e.g., Indian, Pakistani, Nepali, Filipino, Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi, etc.
• Speak English, Hindi, Urdu or Nepali
• A resident of Hong Kong
• Be aged 16 or above and
• Complete an intake assessment to determine whether you are eligible for our service (this will take about 90 to 120 minutes and will be done in person)

Opening Hours

Our service is free of charge.  We operate from Monday to Saturday (except public holidays) and we have two locations: 

• Kwai Fong (Kwai Fong MTR, Exit C, 7-minute walk) 
• Kwun Tong (Kwun Tong MTR, Exit A2, 10-minute walk) 

Our Team

Advisors

• Eric Chen, Chair Professor and Department Head of The Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong  
• Dinesh Bhugra, Professor of Mental Health and Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London and President of The World Psychiatric Association  
• Roger Ng, Chief of Service (Psychiatry), Department of Psychiatry, Kowloon Hospital 
• Paul Wong, Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong and Programme Director of the Master of Social Science (Counselling) and Bachelor of Social Sciences (Counselling) 

Our Impact

Mental Health of Ethnic Minorities Online Resource Platform for Professionals: https://www.zubinfoundation.org/mental-health-resources/

Our Sponsor  

Strategic Partner and Sponsor: Lee Hysan Foundation 

Research Sponsor: Croucher Foundation

Knowledge Partner: The Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong

Venue Sponsors: Patricia Ho & Associates and Links Work

Pro Bono Legal Advisor: DLA Piper

Individual Contributor: Sharmeen Shroff

Contact

For an appointment, please call or WhatsApp us at: 9682 3100.