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Due to its war-torn history, Vietnam is built upon a narrative of “resilience and courage”. Previous generations overcame hardship in order for us to live in peace and happiness. As a result, discussion around sadness, stress, fear, anxiety, and depression have become taboo: many people are unfamiliar with the psychological concept of mental health, and don’t understand that it’s not “just a phase.” Financial barriers—therapy sessions in the country are expensive, ranging from 800,000 VND to 1,200,000 VND an hour ($35-$52/hour) —also make Vietnamese people reluctant to seek professional help.

With this in mind, you might think that art therapy—a concept even more foreign than regular therapy—is sure to be met with skepticism. However art and other methods of creative non-verbal communication are invaluable tools that allow people to express their difficult-to-articulate emotions. Thuy Nguyen Duc Nhu, one of the first Art Psychotherapists in Vietnam who is certified by the The Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA), says that art therapy is a spectrum. It can range from personal practices using art to let out any kinds of negativity—through poetry and painting for example—to trained psychotherapists using art to help their clients. “In contrast to the usual inaccessible forms of therapy, art therapy is more approachable as people can go into sessions without talking and still communicate their stories,” says Thuy Nguyen.

Years later, Tricia set up Wintercearig, a Ho Chi Minh City-based mental health awareness project using art to help people going through hard times. The organization’s name means winter-sorrow, a prolonged sadness. For Tricia, it’s important that people know that this gloomy season doesn’t last forever. Thuy Nguyen agrees, emphasizing that mental illnesses don’t only take a few days to be resolved. Through constant effort and the right support, that winter will soon develop into spring, summer, and fall. The important first step is to accept things the way they are, and then seek the necessary help.

Based in a cozy community art space called Lặng Spot, Wintercearig regularly hosts events ranging from  from peer-to-peer listening activities to yoga sessions, coffee mornings, and breathing and art workshops. While all of these activities are free and open to the public, the majority of Wintercearig attendees are young women.

Wintercearig first came to life in 2017 when Tricia, accompanied by a group of her dance friends and visual artists, conducted a performance on the theme of loneliness at The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. Interacting with paintings inspired by the topic, the dancers executed expressive choreographic steps representing and expressing their personal emotions. The performance was also assigned a theme color: a cross between Prussian and ultramarine blue. “It’s the color of the universe, a deep dark blue. We felt it was a nice symbolic beginning”, says Tricia.

Convincing people to commit to a six month project requires a great deal of effort. To address this, Nguyen and her team set up a two step filter system in their recruitment process: after registration, participants are required to answer a 21-question survey, explaining the reasons why they want to attend the workshops and whether they are aware of having any mental health conditions. After this, they have an in-person conversation with someone from Wintercearig to identify whether participants’ motivations matched with what the organization’s planning. In these talks, Tricia and her team emphasize that Wintercearig is a safe space for all. Part of this is their rule on names: no real names are used during the workshops—many people prefer to remain anonymous due to the aforementioned stigmas around attending therapy—and no ages are disclosed. This simple yet powerful rule overrides the long-standing etiquette in Vietnam which dictates that hierarchy and order is decided through age. The “Clearing”, is therefore an equal space for everyone to join.

While participants still drop out of Wintercearig’s programmes for various reasons, several participants hold on for the whole six months and continue to attend activities at Lặng Spot. One notable example is a medical student who intends to stop studying in favor of pursuing art, which makes her happier. She is fighting to follow her passion, even though it means giving up something that her parents chose for her. “I admire how she’s being true to herself, and going after the life that she wants,” says Tricia.