As a first-generation daughter of immigrant Vietnamese and Chinese parents, TV host Jeannie Mai Jenkins was taught to stay silent, even in the most painful of circumstances.

"In my neighborhood, we were the family that you never heard from. Our house got robbed two times, we never called the police. I remember getting into a small accident where I probably should have [gone] to the hospital and gotten stitches. I didn't, my aunt put her own green oil on it. And we bound it up ourselves. There's something within the Asian diaspora that tells you, 'You made it here, America has allowed us to come. So just don't cause trouble. Just stay quiet," said Jenkins, co-host of "The Real."

The Emmy award-winning TV host and social media personality endured a tumultuous childhood, survived years of sexual abuse, and went through a painful and public divorce. She's now using her platform to advocate for mental health services.

"If you know anybody who has gone through that type of trauma, a lot of similar traits happen. One of them is silencing yourself. So not only did I spend a lot of my childhood voiceless, because I was trying to tell people what went on to me, but I either had a language barrier, or I was afraid to speak up for myself. But on top of that, I was also a part of this culture that doesn't want to create chaos or, or bring attention," she said.

'Having these outlets is what saved me'

In 2018, Jenkins revealed she was sexually abused by a family member from when she was nine to 13 years old. She recently confronted her mom, asking her why she did not believe her at the time. By sharing her layered story of trauma, Jenkins believes she can help others feel less alone, spurring a virtuous cycle as her community shares ways they have dealt with pain.

"I learned that the only way I was going to heal is to actually own these things about me and talk about it and find my own healing by going through the journey, even if it means it hurts so much. So thankfully...having these outlets is what saved me. I call [my fan base out there] 'mai fam,' because they're like family to me, They relate to me, they tell me what they went through. They told me some ways that help them and in turn, it worked for me."

Jenkins opened up about her mental health journey in a wide-ranging interview with Yahoo Finance's A Time for Change series.

Therapy has an overwhelming stigma in communities of color. Half of all white adults with a mental health diagnosis received treatment or counseling, according to federal health data cited by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). That number drops drastically across minorities who suffer with a mental illness — with 34% of Latinx, 33% of Black and 23% of Asian adults getting treatment.

In addition to the social barriers surrounding professional help in the Asian community, services are often cost prohibitive. Many therapists don't take insurance, requiring patients to pay out of pocket and submit for partial reimbursement from their insurance providers. Digital therapy services like Talkspace, BetterHelp, and Teledoc Health (TDOC) are trying to combat this issue by providing relatively inexpensive online therapy covered by several major health insurers.

For her part, Jenkins said she didn't seek out professional help until she felt stable in her career.

"I only started getting therapy when I had a real job when I was actually a television host when I could afford something like that...I think it should be more normalized," she said. "I think there should be group rates, accessible ways to therapy, because everybody deserves to get that help."

Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finance’s West Coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm and on LinkedIn.

Read more:

Teens and social media: 'Unfollow some accounts that don't make you feel good'

How I broke the stigma of seeking therapy as an Asian-American

'Bamboo Ceiling' author: 'Asians have been invisible’ for too long