A bit about me…

Background

I am a queer, non-binary, Vietnamese-American Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist serving the Bay Area and California virtually. I was born in Southern California, the youngest child of Vietnamese immigrants. We were a low-income household and I learned early on how to put my head down, work hard, and make my own success. I would never want to be a burden, learning to constantly chase external validation.

I was good at doing what I was told to do. I developed strong protector parts who learned safety through being high-achieving, neglecting my needs to make sure others around me were happy. I practiced saying the right thing to comfort the people around me. I practiced listening and reflecting, but never sharing my own voice. I relied on praise from others as reassurance that I was good, that I was enough.

Since practicing Internal Family Systems (IFS), developed by Richard C. Schwartz, I have learned to see the genius of these protector parts in making sure my wounded exiles, who felt overlooked and neglected, would never go hungry. I have learned that, as brilliant as this system is (for a 3 year old), it’s actually quite fragile and unnecessary for a full grown adult. Most of all, I learned to strengthen by inner wisdom to cultivate a trusting relationship with my parts, and to provide my own wounded ones with the advocacy and care that they’ve needed from the start.

Education

M.A. in Counseling Psychology, concentration in Expressive Arts Therapy - California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), 2021

Reiki Level 1 Certified, Usui Shiki Ryoho tradition

Trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Trained in Somatics

Trained in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Currently studying Sound Healing modalities