Mija Lee

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

My approach to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is collaborative, practical, and tailored to each client’s unique experiences, strengths, and goals. I use CBT to help clients better understand the connection between thoughts, emotions, physical responses, and behaviors, while developing healthier coping patterns and greater emotional flexibility. I work with children, adolescents, and adults experiencing anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD-related challenges, trauma-related symptoms, emotional dysregulation, perfectionism, low self-esteem, behavioral difficulties, and stress-related concerns. In therapy, I help clients identify unhelpful thinking patterns, cognitive distortions, avoidance behaviors, and emotional reactions that may contribute to ongoing distress or interfere with daily functioning. My therapeutic style is supportive, engaging, and psychoeducational. I believe clients benefit from understanding how the brain, nervous system, and learned behavioral patterns influence emotions and decision-making. I often incorporate visual tools, worksheets, interactive discussions, mindfulness-based strategies, behavioral activation, emotional regulation skills, and practical real-life applications to make CBT approachable and meaningful across different developmental levels. For children and adolescents, I frequently integrate CBT with play-based, creative, and experiential interventions to improve engagement and emotional expression. I also collaborate with caregivers to support consistency, emotional coaching, and skill reinforcement at home. When working with neurodivergent clients, including individuals with ADHD or autism spectrum-related challenges, I adapt interventions to match cognitive processing styles, sensory needs, executive functioning abilities, and emotional regulation capacity. In addition to traditional CBT strategies, I integrate mindfulness practices, strengths-based interventions, self-compassion work, and trauma-informed care when clinically appropriate. I focus not only on symptom reduction, but also on helping clients build insight, resilience, confidence, healthier relationships, and long-term coping skills that can be applied beyond the therapy room. My goal is to help clients feel more empowered in understanding themselves, managing difficult emotions, responding more intentionally to stress, and creating meaningful and sustainable changes in their lives.

Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)

My approach to Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is grounded in evidence-based practice, compassion, collaboration, and careful pacing tailored to each client’s needs and nervous system capacity. As a Certified ERP Therapy Provider through the International OCD Foundation, I integrate ERP with psychoeducation, cognitive and behavioral strategies, mindfulness-based interventions, and emotional regulation skills to help clients gradually reduce the hold that obsessive fears and compulsive behaviors have on daily life. I have experience supporting children, adolescents, and adults experiencing OCD symptoms, anxiety disorders, perfectionism, intrusive thoughts, reassurance-seeking behaviors, emotional avoidance, and compulsive patterns that interfere with functioning, relationships, academic performance, and self-esteem. My work often involves helping clients understand the cycle of anxiety, uncertainty intolerance, and compulsions while building healthier ways to respond to distress. In treatment, I focus on creating a safe and collaborative therapeutic relationship before moving into exposures. I believe ERP is most effective when clients feel emotionally understood rather than pressured. I help clients gradually face feared thoughts, situations, sensations, or uncertainties while reducing compulsive responses, avoidance behaviors, reassurance-seeking, checking, rumination, or other safety behaviors that maintain anxiety over time. Exposures are individualized, developmentally appropriate, and paced carefully to encourage sustainable progress rather than overwhelm. Because many of my clients also experience ADHD, autism spectrum-related challenges, trauma histories, emotional dysregulation, or perfectionism, I adapt ERP interventions to match each client’s cognitive style, sensory profile, and emotional needs. For children and teens, I frequently incorporate creative, visual, play-based, and experiential methods to increase engagement and skill generalization. I also collaborate closely with caregivers to support consistency and reinforce progress outside of sessions. My therapeutic style combines structure with warmth and flexibility. I emphasize psychoeducation so clients understand not only what they are doing in ERP, but why the process works neurologically and behaviorally. I also integrate mindfulness, distress tolerance, self-compassion, and cognitive restructuring strategies when clinically appropriate to help clients build resilience while learning to tolerate uncertainty and discomfort more effectively. Above all, my goal is to help clients regain a sense of freedom, confidence, and trust in themselves so that anxiety and compulsive patterns no longer dictate their choices, relationships, or quality of life.

Trauma-Focused CBT

My approach to Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is compassionate, structured, and trauma-informed, with a strong emphasis on emotional safety, trust, and developmental sensitivity. As a Certified TF-CBT Therapist, I utilize evidence-based interventions to help children, adolescents, and families process traumatic experiences, reduce trauma-related symptoms, and strengthen emotional regulation and resilience. I have experience supporting clients impacted by trauma, anxiety, abuse, grief, family conflict, behavioral difficulties, emotional dysregulation, and stressful or overwhelming life experiences. My work often includes helping children and caregivers understand how trauma affects the brain, body, emotions, behaviors, relationships, and sense of safety. I believe psychoeducation is an important part of healing because it helps clients and families understand that many trauma responses are adaptive survival responses rather than personal weaknesses. My therapeutic approach is collaborative and paced carefully according to each client’s readiness and emotional capacity. I focus on building coping skills and emotional regulation before deeper trauma processing begins. Treatment may include relaxation skills, mindfulness, affect identification, cognitive coping, grounding strategies, distress tolerance, and development of healthy emotional expression. I also work closely with caregivers to strengthen attachment, improve communication, and support the child’s healing process outside of sessions. When clinically appropriate, I help clients gradually process trauma-related memories, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs in a safe and supportive environment. I assist clients in identifying and reframing unhelpful trauma-related beliefs such as shame, self-blame, helplessness, or fear while reinforcing healthier and more balanced perspectives. My goal is not to force disclosure or overwhelm clients, but to help them regain a sense of safety, confidence, emotional control, and empowerment over their experiences. Because many clients present with overlapping concerns such as ADHD, autism spectrum-related challenges, anxiety, OCD symptoms, sensory sensitivities, or behavioral dysregulation, I adapt TF-CBT interventions to meet each client’s developmental, emotional, and cognitive needs. For younger children, I frequently integrate play-based, creative, visual, and experiential interventions to support engagement and emotional processing in developmentally appropriate ways. Above all, I strive to create a therapeutic environment where clients feel emotionally supported, respected, and understood while building practical coping skills and long-term resilience. My goal is to help clients and families move beyond survival patterns and develop greater emotional stability, self-understanding, and hope for the future.

Integrative

My therapeutic approach is integrative, collaborative, and tailored to each client’s unique needs, strengths, developmental level, and life experiences. I believe that no single therapeutic model fully fits every individual, so I thoughtfully combine evidence-based approaches to provide treatment that is both clinically effective and personally meaningful. My work integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), mindfulness-based interventions, behavioral strategies, emotional regulation skills, strengths-based approaches, and elements of play therapy and Positive Psychology when clinically appropriate. I adapt interventions based on the client’s presenting concerns, emotional capacity, personality, neurodevelopmental profile, and treatment goals. I work with children, adolescents, and adults experiencing anxiety, OCD, ADHD-related challenges, trauma, emotional dysregulation, perfectionism, behavioral difficulties, low self-esteem, stress-related concerns, and family or relationship challenges. My approach emphasizes helping clients understand the connection between thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, behaviors, and life experiences while building practical coping skills that can be applied in everyday situations. Because many of my clients are neurodivergent or experience overlapping clinical concerns, I place strong importance on flexibility and individualized care. I frequently modify interventions to support executive functioning challenges, sensory sensitivities, emotional regulation difficulties, attention differences, and social-emotional development. For children and adolescents, I often incorporate creative, visual, experiential, and play-based interventions to increase engagement, emotional expression, and skill generalization. I also value psychoeducation as an important part of therapy. I believe clients benefit from understanding how the brain, nervous system, trauma responses, habits, and behavioral patterns influence emotional functioning. I strive to create a therapeutic environment that balances insight, emotional support, structure, accountability, and practical skill-building. My therapeutic style is warm, engaging, and collaborative while remaining grounded in evidence-based practice. I aim to help clients feel understood and empowered as they develop healthier coping patterns, increased emotional resilience, stronger self-awareness, and greater confidence navigating life’s challenges. My goal is not only symptom reduction, but also meaningful and lasting growth that improves overall quality of life and relationships.