Services
- Individual
- Adolescent/Teen
About My Clients
I connect to folks who are tired of feeling like they always need their “game face” on in the fast-paced, competitive environment of the Bay Area. It’s ok to not be ok, and you don’t have to struggle alone. I integrate social justice into therapy by striking a balance between supporting how you adapt as an individual with how you experience the world as someone with marginalized identities. I work with many People of Color, ages 15-40, to manage stress, identity conflict, anxiety, & depression.
My Background and Approach
Whether you are seeking help for challenges at work or school, in relationships, or within yourself and how you move through the world, I will support you using a few major approaches. I find that people feel understood and supported to grow when therapy is client-centered, trauma-informed, and intersectional. I create a safe space to highlight your individual strengths as well as your struggles, where we can channel your inner resilience towards the growth you desire. I frame your experiences through an intersectional lens, exploring how structural forms of oppression (i.e. racism; sexism; nativism) impact your identity, emotions, and areas of your life you hope to change. I can integrate cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) and mindfulness skills to help bring practical, sustainable change to your everyday life. I hold masters degrees in social work and ethnic studies and developed my clinical practice through 8+ years working in community mental health and school-based settings.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
Social justice is at the core of who I am as a clinical social worker and therapist. I’m an advocate for ending racism and sexism in their multiple forms and believe that therapy can be a powerful place to learn healthy, effective ways to resist personal experiences of oppression. As a 2.5-generation Filipina American from Hawaii, I’m invested in several Asian Pacific Islander (API) and POC movements, which include supporting immigrant populations, highlighting diversity in the API experience, and ending the dehumanization of black, brown, and indigenous bodies (such as the Black Lives Matter and Protect Mauna Kea movements). Prior to starting my private practice, I worked for 5 years in an API-focused community mental health clinic in Oakland. In addition to providing therapy there, I managed a preventive mental health service program where I enjoyed doing mental health outreach and education with diverse populations including refugees, students, seniors, and Asian American lawyers.