Colors of Recovery's 8th episode features an interview with Melanie Heu, Clinical Manager for ASHA at Great Lakes Psychological Services. Listen to Heu discuss her family's moving experiences as Hmong refugees that emigrated from Laos to Canada, as well as the financial and workforce challenges she has seen in working with refugee and other ethnically/linguistically diverse communities in treatment settings.

Resources:

Melanie Heu is a second-generation Hmong refugee immigrant who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Alcohol Drug Counselor in Minnesota. Heu is the Clinical Manager for ASHA at Great Lakes Psychological Services and is a part time Adjunct Professor at St. Catherine’s University where she teaches a class on Addiction and Recovery. Over the last 12 years of her career, Heu has developed mental health and addiction treatment programs to serve individuals and families from marginalized populations. Heu has trained and supervised several BIPOC, bicultural and bilingual emerging behavioral health professionals. She also trained many organizations on diversity and equity in the context of addiction treatment. Heu is the Midwest trainer for Driving with Care, which is a four-volume evidenced based Guided Change program that reviews cognitive behavioral treatment for addressing impaired driving behavior. Besides her dedication to work, Heu partakes in a variety of regular physical and creative activities to enhance focus and to keep grounded. She absolutely loves hiking, dancing, Jiu Jitsu and learning to speak other languages. Heu is bi-lingual and fluent in English and Hmong.  

• Dr. Pamela Hays's Addressing Model
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson