My story

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The Short, Professional Story:

I’m a Chinese American licensed clinical social worker + therapist & intimacy coach. I started my career as a high school English teacher in underfunded urban high schools during the 2008 recession - and got laid off due to budget cuts three times!  After six years, I decided to leave the education field to pursue a Masters degree in Social Work. After graduation, I became a program associate mobilizing youth in California to engage in grassroots social justice advocacy with the Movement Strategy Center. 

In 2017, I pivoted to clinical social work at a high intensity mental health agency that provided youth & families in crisis with 24/7 therapeutic support. I collaborated closely with juvenile detention staff, hospital psychiatric units, schools, and community organizations in supporting the safety & treatment of clients undergoing severe mental health issues. In 2019, I was promoted to supervisor, managing teams of clinicians, peer specialists, and care coordinators to deliver holistic care and wraparound services to youth & families in crisis. 

In 2021, I started my own practice as a therapist and relationship + intimacy coach.  In 2022, I expanded to speaking engagements addressing different topics at the intersection of mental health and Asian American identity. I bring an eclectic approach of personal lived experience, creative arts, evidence based mental health practices, practical actionable skills, & humor to my therapy & coaching practices. I was born & raised in sunny Los Angeles, California, & currently live in rainy Vancouver, WA with my husband & cat, Narwhal.

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The Long Story:​

When I was younger I always wondered what was "wrong with me" and thought I was just "bad at relationships". In retrospect, I was simply experiencing the rollercoaster of mental health struggles and the complexities of being a woman of color born to immigrant Chinese parents. My parents had their own unhealed personal + generational traumas, came to the US to escape poverty & in many ways found success.  However, they didn’t understand how to nourish their own inner, emotional lives or the emotions of their children.  

I was a highly sensitive, socially anxious, awkward teen & young adult.  I longed to connect but literally had no idea how to connect.  Much of what I learned about relationships in young adulthood was through self-help books - I literally bought a book in college called Flirting 101 because I intellectually understood flirting as a concept but I couldn’t do it in real life (and if you’re wondering, yes, it did help).  

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In my early 20s, I discovered that I had complex PTSD. I came to realize that the root of my depression, anxiety, bulimia and self-hatred was years of unhealed trauma. The icing on top of this layered mental health cake was spiritual confusion & shame fostered through attending evangelical Christian churches for over a decade.  I craved creative self-expression and freedom, but felt trapped in my body, locked away from my voice.  I started to explore reconnecting with my authentic voice & learning to re-establish safety within my body. 

The past 20 years have been a journey of learning, healing, growing, & transforming  mentally, emotionally, physiologically, & spiritually. It hasn't been easy.  At times, it has been painful, at times it's felt hopeless but my own journey with mental health has given me the opportunity to empathize on a much deeper level with clients through their own process & collect a diverse, interdisciplinary array of healing modalities that I am so grateful for.  I love the life I’ve created, I've built an incredible support network that fosters creative & spiritual growth, and I’m excited to partner with you as you create a life you love.