My training included working in residential and outpatient settings with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and clinical presentations. This included crisis houses, a couples and family clinic, intensive outpatient program, and a dual diagnostic residential treatment facility for adults and adolescents. I furthered my training experience in the administration of neurocognitive and psychological assessments for diagnostic clarification of mood disorders, learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, and personality disorders. Throughout my training, I also helped to develop treatment programming and modules as well as provided psychoeducation seminars and/ or outreach services in the community.

My therapy style is both integrative and collaborative. I am passionate about working with individuals who are looking for both solutions and insight into their conflicts and struggles to help them achieve understanding and balance in their lives. I utilize psychoanalytic foundations of treatment with combined interventions from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to help assist patients in understanding the patterns and conflicts that keep them from living a more balanced life. I enjoy working with patients who are adjusting to new situations (i.e. starting college, recent move, newly married, recent break up) and the complicated emotions surrounding grief and loss. I have a particular interest in working with the Asian American / Pacific Islander community as cultural sensitivity and competency inhibits many from seeking mental health care.

Seeking mental health treatment was stigmatized in my family and within my culture. In college, after experiencing a number of traumatic events that led to to the death of several friends, I decided to pursue treatment on my own. It was a unique experience that opened up a world of healing, insight, understanding, and self-growth that I wanted to learn more about and give back to my community. Perhaps the greatest reason is to hopefully reduce the stigma surrounding getting mental health treatment.

I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I think with the pandemic, it provided a greater appreciation for my relationships and the need to cultivate and maintain them in what ever way possible. I camp a lot at the beach, snowboard, surf (sort of), and cook a great deal.

I try to do some sort of physical activity to get the adrenaline going. I also try to cook and spend time with friends who are outside of the mental health field to provide a better sense of balance. Hopefully, I will get to travel again soon.

It's a tie between Mindset: The New Psychology of Success By Carol Dweck and Everybody Always by Bob Goff. I think both of them touch on considering the way we view the world and that sometimes we need to step back and use a little bit more compassion/ love with others and ourselves instead of criticism.

ACLU. The ACLU has been an advocate for so many different rights and continue to fight and challenge much of the injustice that exists.

It can vary from spending a weekend at home watching my favorite shows or a movie with the family and eating a good meal. Sometimes it's spending time with friends and taking a trip to the beach or the dessert or sometimes just a simple shopping trip.

I have a 16.5 year old Yorkipoo that has been with me since the time I earned my bachelors! He has gone through all of my degrees so I suppose he has an honorary doctorate too! In a lot of ways he was an emotional support animal before it even existed. One of my favorite stories is that my pup served as the ring bearer at my wedding but became so overwhelmed and tired he had to be carried down the aisle.