Hello and a warm welcome!

A little about me:

I grew up in the Bay Area, CA and my parents are first-generation immigrants from Taiwan. I went to college in Los Angeles, and have also spent time in Tucson, AZ and New Orleans, LA. I’m passionate about providing therapy within the appropriate social and cultural contexts of the world we live in today. I truly enjoy helping others gain better self-esteem and understand themselves better in order to reduce symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. In my free time, I enjoy spending time in nature, hanging out with my pets, traveling, and exploring different cuisines. I am mother to two kitty cats (tortoiseshell sisters - Ariadne and Persephone) and a golden retriever named Orpheo.

Education:

After high school, I went to college at UCLA, at first majoring in Biology, then Physiological Science, and then finally switched to Psychobiology. I obtained my B.S. in Psychobiology in 2013. I then took a gap year to decide what I wanted to do, and then began my doctorate program at Palo Alto University in 2015. I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from Palo Alto University in 2020. I completed my internship at the SALT (Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques) center at the University of Arizona, and finished my postdoctoral training at San Jose State CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services).

Therapy Style:

I believe I am first and foremost collaborative. Every individual is different, and therapy is not “one-size-fits-all”. Therefore, I emphasize strongly that therapy is a relationship like any other, and understanding what is helpful or unhelpful for a client is key to a successful therapeutic relationship. That being said, my therapy style integrates heavily from attachment theory, which is based on the belief that our early childhood relationships and patterns oftentimes strongly impact our present-day patterns, until we better understand them and decide what we want to keep and what we’d like to leave behind. This is the work that I aid clients in doing, to better understand their emotions, actions, and relationships with self, others, and the world. I will draw techniques from CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy), MI (Motivational Interviewing), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy), CFT (Compassion Focused Therapy), Mindfulness, and SE (Somatic Experiencing) as needed for each client.