Asian American Psychologist
My Clinical Experience
Before starting this practice focused on AANHPI mental health, I was a generalist in a large medical system in California. I treated many different kinds of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and phobias, bipolar disorders, and PTSD/trauma. I provided individual therapy and group therapy. I did shifts in the ER, providing psychiatric evaluations. I supervised the psychological evaluations of trainees. I learned so much everyday. The job was a crash course in mental health care in the US.
Before that, I was a postdoctoral resident doing rotations in chronic pain and Intensive Outpatient Program (a higher level of care for acute mental health concerns). I also developed a self-compassion class and provided individual therapy for a variety of common concerns such as depression, relationship problems, and anxiety.
Other formative clinical experiences:
Providing short-term therapy and brief assessments in a primary care setting
Working with migrants, refugees, and asylees from Asia
Supervising the clinical work of students in a Master’s program for counseling
Working with first generation college students
Training in contemporary psychoanalysis
Why I Became a Psychologist
I became a psychologist after many years of not knowing what I wanted to do. I taught English in Korea (as many twenty-somethings do when they don’t know what they’re doing with their lives). I worked as an administrative assistant. I worked at a law firm to see what being a lawyer was like. (Remember, lawyers are part of the “holy trinity” of acceptable careers to Asian parents.) During this time in my life, the only thing that made me feel productive and brave was going to weekly therapy. I entered therapy to try to “fix” myself because I believed I was a failure. I was stuck in indecision about my career and I was having a lot of trouble with romantic relationships. After I started learning more about myself with the help of therapists, I started to realize that in a lot of ways, I wasn’t living life on my own terms. I was making the choices of someone who did not feel empowered and did not expect to be happy.
There’s a lot to my own story, as there is to yours. I want to be clear that being a psychologist doesn’t mean I’m perfect or have it all figured out. I’m doing the work myself. And I know how crucial it’s been to have a good therapist contain and guide my work.
I started my career in mental health by getting a Master’s in counseling but knew before the program was over that I needed more training to be the therapist I really wanted to be. Had I known how arduous a Ph.D. really was, I might have changed my mind, so maybe it was a good thing that I entered a Ph.D. program with some naïveté. My Ph.D. program was long and took me to a part of the country that really challenged me (southern New Mexico) because it was so different from any other place I’d lived. But ultimately, I grew a lot and feel grateful because this learning gave me the tools to support my clients today. This education helps me connect mental health concerns to issues of class, race, language, gender, sexual orientation, and intergenerational trauma. I know how privileged I am to have received this level of education and I’m committed to giving away what I’ve learned.
Why I Started My Practice
I enjoyed the financial security and great benefits of my corporate/managed care mental health job. I loved my colleagues and I loved being part of a large interdisciplinary team. Being on the front lines of mental health was great for training and learning. For my own mental health and well-being, however, it wasn’t so great. The hours were long, the paperwork requirements demanding. Having to determine whether someone’s concerns met “medical necessity” put me in an ethical quandary on a near daily basis. Over the years, my caseload became large and unwieldy. I was forced to continue taking new clients every week, which meant that I was only able to see the rest of my caseload about once every 4-6 weeks. It was so demoralizing for both me and my clients. I wanted to provide high quality care but the system did not support that.
The other problem during this time was that I wasn’t doing the work that was really calling to me. I knew I didn’t want to be a generalist who sees anybody who happens to call in because in therapy, a good fit is everything. I knew I was a good fit for some people and not for others. I knew that when I worked with AANHPI clients, I felt energized and was in a flow state in session. It meant so much to me to validate and normalize the complex experiences my AANHPI clients shared with me. But leaving a “good job” with great benefits and a pension is not an easy thing to do. Starting a private practice on your own is scary and uncertain. Like many children of immigrants, I was raised to prioritize safety and view life from the lens of scarcity. In my journey, however, I’ve come to believe that risks are often worth taking, especially when our self-actualization is at stake. In this sense, this private practice embodies not just my adventurous spirit but also the wisdom of putting myself first.
Therapy Approaches I Use
I think of clients’ concerns from a systemic lens. This means I often consider the societal and cultural factors that shape a person’s experiences and mental health (e.g., racism). Overall, my approach is humanistic, meaning that I value an individual’s sense of fulfillment and worth and work to ultimately enhance these. Sometimes I use specific structured approaches that I’ve been trained in. These are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), and Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). I’m also a big fan of mindfulness and have been meditating for many years but I try not to push it on people too much because I know that it may not be helpful to everyone. In therapy we say “One size does not fit all.” In other words, the approach I take often depends on the client and their unique challenges and needs.
Asian American Psychologist: Who I Work With
I work with creative or professional adults who live in California, the 42 PSYPACT states, or outside the US (depending on the country). I work primarily with members of the Asian diaspora, usually women. They often identify as Asian American (or AANHPI) but not always. Some folks are hapa or multiracial. I also work with a number of non-Asians of all racial backgrounds.
I work with people who value what I have to offer: the highest level of education possible for a therapist, lots of clinical experience, breadth and depth in knowledge about BIPOC mental health, lived experience as a 1.5 generation Korean American woman immigrant, a sense of humor, and compassion.
If you think I’d be a good fit for you, you can book a free consultation with me.