Helen Chao

(she/her)

LCSW, 7 years of experience
Warm
Empowering
Solution oriented

Hello there - my name is Helen, and I'm a board-licensed, poly/ENM-friendly COUPLES/romantic relationships psychotherapist. My primary modality is Transformative Couples Therapy, where I guide couples to deepen their ability to feel, receive, and show love to their partner(s). Please note that due to insurance limitations, I am only able to offer 30 MINUTE FOLLOWUP SESSIONS. Don't worry, we will get a lot done in this time! My work is trauma-informed and grounded in psychodynamic theory training, relational group work, and liberation psychology practice. I am highly skilled in working with depression, anxiety, and stress, which are often variations of emotion dysregulation (fear, anger, sadness, dissociation; even personality disorders and complex PTSD). I am deeply curious and enjoy exploring and adventuring, which is reflected in the the way I work as a therapist. If something is new to all of us, I am committed to learning and growing with you - as a team.

Get to know me

In our first session together, here's what you can expect

In our intake session you can immediately experience moving out of crisis/defensive/angry communication into talking about what each member of the relationship is longing for from their partner(s).

The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions

I'm well-organized, thoughtful, empathic, and open minded, and willing to co-discover solutions with you AND admit + repair mistakes when I make them.

The clients I'm best positioned to serve

I work with all couples/romantic relationship configurations who seek better communication, more love, better mental health and more emotion regulation. I am comfortable working with poly/ENM relationships, and especially welcome those who identify as immigrant, BIPOC, and/or queer. I can work with families, though this is not my specialty. I am not able to work with individuals at this time.

Specialties

Top specialties

Trauma and PTSD

Other specialties

Anger Management

Anxiety

Bipolar Disorder

Depression

I identify as

Serves ages

Licensed in

Location

Offers in-person in 25 Monte Vista Ave, Oakland, CA 94611

Virtual

My treatment methods

Couples Counseling

I work using Transformative Couples Therapy, which is an attachment-based therapy that grew out of AEDP. Additionally, I am Foundational-trained (Level 3) in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which informs how I help clients develop and maintain emotional stability before doing higher-level or deeper, often trauma-related, couples work. I am particularly skilled at treating all conditions and dynamics involving emotional dysregulation (depression, anxiety, trauma, etc) and in helping clients find motivation and remove barriers to pursue lives and relationships that bring them joy and love.

, 4 ratings

3 ratings with written reviews

July 16, 2026

We went to Helen for couples therapy. Helen is a very knowledgeable therapist who is extremely capable of seeing our truth and helping us as a couple to connect and share in a healthy way. She is able to give us tools and exercises that can be used outside of our therapy sessions. Her warm and open approach makes it easy to open up and work together. We are very grateful to have found her.

Verified client, age 25-34
Review shared after session 7 with Helen

June 16, 2026

After just our second meeting with Helen, we already feel encouraged by the progress we're making. She has given us helpful tools and valuable knowledge to move forward together, and we can already see a slight change in the way we communicate with each other. Helen creates a supportive and understanding environment, and we feel hopeful about continuing this work with her.

Verified client, age 35-44
Review shared after session 2 with Helen

June 15, 2026

Wonderful first session. Helen was clearly interested in helping us and clearly skilled at doing so.

Verified client, age 65+
Review shared after session 1 with Helen