(she/her)
Hi! I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with a doctorate based in California. I received my master's degree from Azusa Pacific University and my doctorate of psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. As a middle-aged woman, choosing to be a psychotherapist was a conscious choice after I matured. This career is my calling and I love my job and my clients. I enjoy the deep conversation and meaningful encounters with my clients. I see strengths and hope in each of them and have my heart to help my clients grow and evolve.
In the first session, clients will tell me what led them to therapy, their basic background stories, and their needs and expectations for therapy. I will introduce myself regarding my personal style, approaches, and what to expect such as meeting frequencies and meeting platforms in our journey together. We may define the presenting problems and treatment goals collectively in the first session as well. Of course, we will see if we are a good fit for each other and decide if we want to continue working together.
My appreciation and recognition for each person's unique value have made my therapy a secure base and resource for my clients. They not only feel better but also feel empowered to face life with wisdom, courage, and hope.
My dream clients are middle-aged women. In the first half of the life of this client population, she is someone's daughter, someone's partner, someone's mother, and she oftentimes forgets what she really wants from this life for herself. But it is not too late to awake for personal growth in the second half of life. This group of women has so much potential to be explored and developed. Besides trying to solve some unresolved emotional or psychological problems from the past, middle-aged women can learn to reestablish goals, new identities, and a new future for themselves in order to live a more fulfilling life.
Integrative
I utilize a holistic approach incorporating different modalities to help clients achieve well-being through mind, body, and spirit. My most important therapeutic foundation is the humanistic-existential approach, which values the client's uniqueness with a non-judgmental stand and explores the client's deeper meaning of life, struggles, dilemmas, and potential to grow and evolve. Being a human is hard and each client has different challenges. Based on a client's situation, I will identify an individualized method that suits the client to achieve the best possible outcome. My practice includes evidence-based therapy practices such as attachment theory, cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), emotionally focused therapy (EFT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and mindfulness exercises. In this soul-soul therapy journey, I aim to create a holistic and personalized treatment plan that leads to a transformative experience for the client.