A bit about me…

As a young child, I was afraid to speak.

There were times when I would literally need to count down from 10 in order to utter a word. And by then, the moment had passed, it would not make sense, and I would be left with my heart racing, feeling awkward and insignificant…

While this didn’t happen all the time, it was a common occurrence. Which made sense, given I was the youngest of four children, and my parents (who immigrated to the US from Vietnam after the Vietnam War) were busy sewing clothes to make a living.

And although our household was filled with so much love and laughter, there were many times I felt lonely, forgotten, and confused. And I had no idea how to communicate this to the world around me. So I learned to internalize my needs, repress my anger, be “the good child”, keep my head down, do my work, and do it well.

And this worked well, except: I started to take it out on myself, physically and mentally. Self-harm, self-abandonment, shutting out my needs, and putting other people first. I did this secretly, behind closed doors, and quietly wished others would take notice of my silent suffering. All the rage I felt from being constantly overlooked, turned inward. In retrospect, I was brilliant at finding ways to cope. But I was missing what it meant to truly live.

The magic of arts and play

Fastforward to my 20’s—I graduated college and moved to the Bay Area. Here, I nurtured a connection to taiko drumming, flow arts, Ecstatic Dance, Contact Improv, and deepened my connection to journaling and visual arts for self-reflection and self-discovery. My rage could be banged out on drums; my sadness could be painted in a moody landscape; my joy could be flowed and shaken through my dance; and I began to open my shaky voice in song.

The arts became my sacred space to witness myself. And it turned out, I carried multitudes in me. And they were yearning to be expressed. My confidence, my light, my rage, my sadness, my shame: all seen as sacred, and all safe to move through my body through these different modalities. How could I share this incredible secret with others?

I enrolled in the Expressive Arts Therapy program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and graduated in 2021. Since then I have studied Internal Family Systems (IFS), drama therapy techniques, kinkwork and power dynamics, somatics, mindfulness, and voicework.

Marginalized intersections

As a queer, non-binary, Asian-American child of immigrants, I hold a multitude of marginalized identities. I have my own experiences of feeling neither here nor there, or shaping myself in particular ways to “fit in”, or otherwise find belonging or power. I have led LGBTQ groups at Acalanes High School and Helms Middle School where I completed my practicum hours.

If you also identify as a weirdo or queerdo… there is so much space for you here!

My mission…

… is to support teens and adults in owning what they want, and GOING for it! In addition to supporting LGBTQ/BIPOC communities, I have a unique specialty for supporting those who have learned self-abandonment through people-pleasing and over-functioning. I will support you in reclaiming your abandoned parts, reconnecting to your life force, and taking on your most empowering role in our human web.