Global Identity Healing

Reflecting my own background—born in Uzbekistan to grandparents who spoke Persian and did not understand Russian, raised in a Russian-speaking home, then moving to Israel where my parents struggled with Hebrew, and now raising my children in English, a language that is not my native one—I understand firsthand how complex and multilayered cultural identity can be.

Growing up, I often found myself bridging worlds: learning a new culture and language while simultaneously teaching it to my parents. Each cultural transition required adapting to new values, communication styles, and expectations. Now, living in New York for 14 years, I continue to navigate the experience of shaping a family identity in yet another culture and language.

These shifts are more than linguistic; they fundamentally influence our psychological needs. What is considered “normal,” “healthy,” or “respectful” changes from one culture to another. Emotional expression, independence, family roles, boundaries, and even how we define success or belonging can vary widely depending on the cultural and linguistic environment we grew up in.

Multicultural individuals often carry multiple sets of expectations—those from their heritage culture, those from the culture they were raised in, and those from the society in which they currently live. This layering can create both strengths and internal conflicts. It shapes how we perceive ourselves, how we relate to others, and what we need in order to feel grounded, understood, and supported.

My work is deeply informed by this lived experience. I help clients explore how cultural transitions, multilingual identities, and cross-generational differences shape their emotional patterns, coping strategies, and sense of belonging.

Identity Struggles
Navigating multiple cultures—post-Soviet, Israeli, and American—can create a deep internal conflict.
Many individuals who share a similar multicultural path struggle with feeling “not from here and not from there,” constantly negotiating where they truly belong.

Balancing the values, communication styles, and expectations of different cultures often leads to a sense of fragmentation. You may feel pressure to preserve your heritage while simultaneously adapting to a very different social environment in the United States.

Family & Community Expectations
In many immigrant families, expectations regarding education, professional success, and personal achievement are high.
There can be strong cultural norms around responsibility, gender roles, and loyalty to family, which may conflict with the more individualistic values in the U.S.

The fear of disappointing family members—whether in career choices, relationships, or lifestyle—can create significant stress, guilt, and self-doubt.

Racism, Bias & Feeling “Different”
Immigrants from Russian-speaking, Middle Eastern, or Jewish backgrounds often face stereotypes or misunderstandings.
Being treated as “other,” misjudged based on accent, appearance, or cultural expressions, or navigating anti-immigrant or antisemitic sentiment can be deeply painful.

These experiences can lead to isolation, anxiety, or hypervigilance, especially for those building a new life far from extended family and early support systems.

Generational Differences
Many individuals raised between cultures experience friction between traditional values held by parents and the more modern, Western perspectives adopted by younger generations.

Language barriers, differing communication styles, and contrasting expectations around independence, dating, or emotional openness can complicate relationships within the family.

Discussing topics such as mental health, boundaries, or identity transitions may carry emotional weight and trigger misunderstandings.

Gender & Social Expectations
Women from multicultural or traditional backgrounds often encounter conflicting expectations—one set from their heritage culture and another from American society.
This can create confusion around roles, autonomy, relationships, and personal identity.

Individuals with diverse gender identities or sexual orientations may feel even more isolated if their cultural or religious communities offer limited acceptance or visibility.

Immigration Stress
Adapting to the United States—its systems, social norms, and pace—can be overwhelming.
Many immigrants face ongoing stress related to job stability, immigration paperwork, financial pressures, or starting over professionally.

Being far from family abroad can create a deep sense of longing, loneliness, or emotional fragmentation. Maintaining traditions while integrating into New York’s multicultural landscape is a delicate and continuous balancing act.

Mental Health Stigma
In many cultures—including Russian-speaking, post-Soviet, Middle Eastern, and traditional Jewish communities—mental health is not openly discussed.
Therapy may be misunderstood, minimized, or associated with shame, which leaves many individuals coping silently.

Emotional struggles are often dismissed as “stress,” “tiredness,” or “just life,” preventing people from receiving meaningful support.

Larissa Yossefi’s Multicultural Background

Larissa Yossefi brings a uniquely layered cultural and linguistic background to her clinical work. She is a Jewish clinician who grew up in a predominantly Muslim environment in Uzbekistan, an experience that shaped her deep respect for religious and cultural traditions of all kinds. Growing up in Central Asia gave her firsthand understanding of cultural similarities, communal values, and the unspoken norms that shape family dynamics across different societies.

Larissa’s family history spans multiple languages and traditions. Her grandparents spoke Persian and Russian, while her parents spoke Russian and later learned Hebrew. Larissa herself speaks Russian and Hebrew fluently, understands many Persian words, and communicates daily in English—her third language. Because she grew up navigating several cultural identities at once, she understands what it means to translate not only between languages, but also between entire value systems.

Larissa came to Israel as a child with her parents, continuing to balance her heritage culture with Israeli society. She often served as a cultural and linguistic bridge within her own family, helping her parents integrate into a new environment while adapting herself. She later moved to New York, where she has lived for more than 10 years, raising her children in English while maintaining ties to the languages and traditions she grew up with.

This multicultural upbringing provides Larissa with deep and personal insight into the psychological experience of:

• living between cultures
• adapting to new languages and environments
• holding multiple identities at once
• navigating generational differences
• balancing tradition with modern expectations

Larissa understands how cultural transitions shape emotional needs, communication styles, and the ways individuals seek connection or support. Her background enables her to work effectively with clients who feel “in between” cultures, homes, or identities—because she has lived that experience herself.

Her clinical perspective is enriched by this lived multicultural reality, allowing her to create therapeutic spaces that honor diversity, complexity, and the human need for belonging.