(he/him)
***Please note that although Grow allows clients to schedule their own intakes, I require an initial free 15-minute phone consultation before treatment begins. The purpose of this call is to establish if we're a good fit in regard to style and goals. If we are not able to have that phone consultation at least one day before the intake, I will have to reschedule the intake. Thank you for understanding!*** Let's take a moment to acknowledge you being here! Thank you for finding your way to me, and I hope we can work together to help you make meaningful change in your life. I'm Albert Xiong (he/him/his), and I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist with 6 years of experience providing affirming therapy services to a wide variety of clients across multiple settings. As a gay, Chinese American, myself, I get what it's like to navigate facets of our identities that can sometimes feel at odds. After a career of providing services to disenfranchised folks on Medi-Cal, students in a high-achieving high school in the Bay Area, and a small agency, I've found that fostering trusting and supportive relationships goes a long way in being a therapist. In the (virtual) therapy room, you can expect me to be an animated and relatively lighthearted therapist; I pride myself on bringing my genuine self into our therapeutic relationship, and my genuine self is someone who's curious and playful. Milton Erickson said, "patients have grim enough lives, let's not give them grim therapy, too." And while I resonate deeply with this quote, you can expect me to always supply the respect and compassion you deserve when you decide to share about something grim.
During our first session, you can expect me to be curious about you. I don't want to only know about your problems, I want to know about what you're doing right. How did you successfully get into my therapy room today? What made it more likely that this happened? What difference did it make for you to come? These are all questions you can expect me to ask. I tend to ask much more questions in this initial session than any other, and that's because I want to understand you as much as I can so I can get a better idea of how I can help you.
I strive to be an understanding, gentle, yet direct therapist. There are times when I've found it helpful for clients to hear something new, or to help them hear what others have been saying to them time and time again. My intention, though, is for clients to hear them in new ways. Being direct does not equate to being blunt and rude. You can expect me to follow these moments with a check-in about how you're marinating what you just heard. There are also times where I may draw upon my knowledge of psychology, neuroscience, or something else that I think could be helpful for you to hear. In these moments, I will always ask you for your permission if you're open to learning something new in that moment; I'm not in the business of assuming what a client "needs" to learn, so you're always free to decline when I make an offer!
Other specialties
I identify as
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
Often times clients come into therapy wanting so badly to get rid of their unhelpful thoughts and feelings; the way I see it, if this were possible, they would have already figured it out. ACT is a way to help clients change the way they relate to their thoughts and feelings: instead of fighting and trying to get rid of them, I help clients acknowledge they're there, and recognize that they can still do what is important to them in spite of the unhelpful thoughts and feelings. I often spend sessions encouraging clients to notice their experience, and use mindfulness techniques to help them act in ways that make positive differences in their lives.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
I trust that clients are smart, resourceful, and resilient people who already have what it takes to make differences in their lives. Using SFBT, I leverage clients' natural resources and encourage them to visualize changes they want, and figuring out how to get there.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
Based on research and my experience working across a broad range of stages of life, racial and ethnic identities, and mental health concerns, I have found that fostering a therapeutic relationship that centers trust and rapport to be invaluable to the growth of clients. I focus on creating an environment where a client can feel as open as possible to share about what's on their mind; disclosures like these are met by me with thank-yous, appreciations, and opportunities to process what it was like to be your genuine self in that brief moment.
Gender-affirming therapy
Now more than ever, queer and trans folks need spaces that maximize safety, trust, and respect. In my practice, trans and non-binary folks are welcomed and celebrated rather than tolerated. I have experience providing gender-affirming therapy through fostering gender euphoria, openly processing how the political landscape directly affects mental health, and writing letters of support for folks accessing gender affirming surgeries.
1 rating with written reviews
May 3, 2025
Attentive, thoughtful, and challenged me to be more introspective while teasing out subconscious thoughts and experiences that helped clarify my thinking process. Balanced listening and commenting adeptly while staying warm and authentic at the same time. I left our session feeling heard and wanting to schedule another appointment to continue.