Therapists in San Francisco, CA

I am a second-generation Chinese American clinical psychologist. I trained at Stanford Medicine, specializing in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and interpersonal difficulties with individuals, couples and families. I love working with those who are seeking to better understand themselves, build better habits and gain skills to navigate intense emotions. I also have expertise in helping couples and families improve communication when it comes to conflict resolution, setting and maintaining boundaries, and expressing and getting relationship needs met.

At San Francisco Family Practice, I specialize in psychotherapy with children, adolescents and their families, as well as with adults. I use evidence-based treatments including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to work with you and your family, and believe in a treatment-team approach, wherein families are highly encouraged to be a part of the therapy process. In order to best create your treatment plan, I tailor my approach to your unique concerns and goals.

Therapy can help you remove unwanted behaviors and restore joy and fulfillment to your life. Do you struggle with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship issues or impact from trauma? I provide a non-judgmental, active, caring environment to enable you to make positive changes. COUPLES: Do you feel stuck in the "crazy cycle"? Communication issues are often at the core of relationships. Therapy can help you master the art of communication. My therapeutic approach is supported by the most recent research and discoveries from experts in the psychology field. I have witnessed many couples flourish and transform.

I am most experienced in working with people with pain, illness, addictions, anxiety and depression. I use interpersonal and cognitive approaches to these issues, and believe that the client is best able to assist in selecting the types of approaches best suited to them.

My goal is to help people regain balance in their lives, deepen their understanding of self and achieve a level of awareness that alleviates helplessness and creates choice and ultimate change.

As a clinician I work mainly from behavioral and psychodynamic perspectives, relying on training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to support clients in healing painful experiences, managing stress, other mental health struggles, and relationship issues. Prior to becoming a therapist, I worked as a Marketing and Project Manager in Silicon Valley’s high-tech industry, having that experience has helped me to also have a successful track record in working with professionals facing job stress, addiction issues, and burnout — some of whom want to make big changes in their careers.

Often times if you are feeling your worst, you can also be on the verge of being at your best - if only you are willing to take risks and peer behind the curtains of your life. My job is to help you navigate this journey and provide a safe arena for some of life's most personal and rewarding discoveries. I work individually with adults and teens on a variety of issues, but I love to work with clients seeking to recover from life's adversity. Helping you discover meaning and peace in your life is my pleasure and privilege.

Everyone is unique. Your thoughts, feelings and needs are shaped by your own background, family history, past interpersonal encounters and other significant events, including early child trauma. Psychotherapy is an emotional process. As we discuss your concerns, it will surface unexamined parts of your life of which you may not be aware or want to experience. My central role as your therapist is to help you talk about and understand more fully these unexamined thoughts, feelings, and needs in the context of your past, develop greater understanding, tolerance and acceptance, and to bring changes to your current situation.

Many of my clients come to me after having spent a number of years in traditional talk therapy, feeling there is something deeper, within their body, that needs attention and healing. They recognize that trauma is stored in their body and can only be healed with the body in mind. Symptoms might include unrelenting anxiety, chronic pain or tension patterns, numbness, dissociation, and/or emotional, behavioral, or physiological patterns that continue to show up in spite of the cognitive insights and shifts that have occurred with the help of past therapy.

Are you thriving in your life? Do your pursuits fulfill you, or make you second guess yourself? Perhaps you're caught in constant comparison to your peers. I specialize in helping individuals get past these common hurdles - the ones that hold you back from living a more meaningful life. Whether you are looking to resolve core issues, or trying to achieve balance between work, love and play, people can sometimes feel "stuck." I am here to be your coach, to help you experience your life in a more purposeful way - one that holds value independent of the expectations of others.

I received my B.A. degree in University of California, Davis, with a major in Psychology, and my M.A. degree from John F. Kennedy University in the Counseling Psychology program. My expertise includes mental health counseling, such as depressive/anxiety disorders, communication, family, intimacy and/or relationship issues for individuals, groups, couples, and families, drug addiction treatment, and gambling addiction. As a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I strongly believe in human potential, and my goal is to help my clients to discover and utilize the tools they have already possessed!

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive" -The Dalai Lama. To be kind with yourself and others requires that you begin to heal the old wounds that reside in your heart and mind. As a therapist, I focus on helping you find an authentic and creative life and cultivate real relationships to support a healthy and warm lifestyle. I welcome people who are working with relationship and communication issues, anxiety and depression, and questions around self-esteem, isolation, and meaning. I believe the healing path is a lifelong journey towards greater wisdom, compassion, and happiness.

My approach is empathetic, validating and humanistic with a focus on solutions and tactile skills with the end goal being to empower clients within their own lives.

I am a strong believer in taking an active approach to feeling better. Having better control over your mood can often seem hopeless, but you can make things better. Achieving a healthier approach to the way you think, make decisions, and relate to others can help clear a path towards a new direction in your life.

I provide online counseling for sobriety and mental wellness. I help stressed-out high achievers find sobriety and mental balance by providing a safe space to process and talk about job stress, family issues, alcohol & substance use, as well as any other mental health concerns or stressors you might be experiencing. My goal is to be collaborative and person-centered, I don't have a one-size-fits-all approach to counseling and will utilize various tools such as psychodynamic, CBT, and DBT to name a few.

Are you a parent of young children who feels the stress, anxiety and depression related to parenting during a pandemic? Do you need support alleviating these conditions, improving communication and parenting skills and connecting more with loved ones? I help moms and dads of young children strengthen their connection with their children, their partner and themselves.

My style is warm, collaborative, playful, direct, and flexible. Psychotherapy is one of the few places where individuals are free to explore and express themselves in a deeply personal way. People come to therapy for different reasons and with different goals in mind. I am committed to offering a space that is innovative and values uniqueness, developing a way of working with you that accounts for your complexity and individual preferences. I encourage open dialogue and feedback regarding what you find helpful.

My approach to psychotherapy is a collaborative and flexible partnership with each client. I believe that trust, respect, non-judgment, genuineness, and compassion form the foundation of a therapeutic relationship. Through the process of psychotherapy, I endeavor to help clients gain insight and perspective into their relationships and behaviors with the intention of achieving positive change. We will work in tandem to identify treatment goals and expectations at the outset of treatment, and will ensure that the focus of therapy is on the most salient issues.