PROVO — Pacific Islanders seek mental health services less than any other group, according to a Brigham Young University study.
From 2018 to 2025, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at BYU, Kawika Allen, led a team of students to the South Pacific to understand how they could help Pacific Island communities address mental health challenges.
The research is personal for Allen, who grew up in Hawaii and whose mother is part Tongan and native Hawaiian.
“There’s this personal passion around it,” Allen said. “And also the desire to reach out and serve my community, where no services, hardly at the time, were offered or available.”
His research team, the Poly Psi Team (Polynesian Psychology and Education Research), visited New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, Samoa and the Marshall Islands.
Although each island is different, Allen said some of the most prominent factors in mental health struggles were an increase in suicidal ideation, self-harm behaviors, a lack of trained therapists on the islands and cultural stigma.
“They may not necessarily want to seek out help if it might bring shame or a negative view on the family or themselves,” Allen said.
The Poly Psi team developed some approaches to help Pacific Islanders feel more comfortable using mental health services. The biggest thing was incorporating cultural practices into treatment.
Allen said one way would be allowing them to “talk story,” or get to know each other, before diving into heavier issues in therapy.
“Trust and respect in that community is very significant and important for us to establish, so it takes time to do that,” Allen said.
Other ways would be to talk about ancestors in therapy, starting a session with a prayer or speaking the indigenous language.
Allen plans to continue studying Pacific Islanders and mental health, and hopes to go to Tonga next year.
The full research publication is available here.
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