Why I Do This Work

My path to becoming a therapist grew out of years working in violence prevention, parenting education, and advocacy. My work and training with the late children’s advocate and parent educator Ruth Beaglehole deeply shaped how I think about relationships. Her philosophy of nonviolent parenting—and the shift from “power over” to “power with”—continues to influence my values and my work as a therapist.

I believe many of the patterns we struggle with have roots in what we learned about love, conflict, power, and belonging. Moving forward with intention often means looking back with curiosity and compassion at the experiences and wounds we carry.

I do this work to support people who want to break from patterns that no longer serve them, understand what shaped them, and decide what they want to carry forward—so they can relate to others and move through life more fully on their own terms.

What’s Therapy Like With Me?

I believe you are the expert of your own life. My role is to be an active participant and guide as we explore what’s happening beneath the surface—patterns, emotions, relationships, and experiences that shape how you move through the world.

My approach is psychodynamic, attachment-based, Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)-informed, and grounded in systems thinking. In plain terms, I pay attention to how you learned to connect and protect yourself, what may be underneath conflict, and how family and cultural experiences shape you.

Together, we may look back at your past to better understand what’s showing up today—and explore what you want to carry forward and what you may want to do differently.

Therapy for Trauma & Intergenerational Patterns

Trauma isn’t only about what happened to you. It can also come from what happened around you, and from patterns passed down through generations.

In immigrant and multicultural families, ways of surviving can become ways of living. Together, we can explore:

• Intergenerational & family patterns
• Cultural expectations & identity
• Coping & survival strategies
• Relationships & boundaries
• What you want to carry forward

We’ll approach these patterns with curiosity and compassion, exploring where they came from, how they shape you today, and what you want to do differently.

Therapy for Parents and Caregivers

This is where my work began, and it remains close to my heart.

My approach is grounded in nonviolent, relationship-centered parenting, shaped by my work with parenting educator and children’s rights advocate Ruth Beaglehole and years of leading community parenting groups. Together, we can explore:

• Connection & attachment
• Behavior & unmet needs
• Parenting patterns & triggers
• Childhood experiences & expectations
• Repair & reconnection

I see children as whole people deserving of dignity, connection, and respect. We’ll look beyond behavior and explore what your child may be communicating—and what may be underneath your own reactions, too.

Parenting can bring our own childhood experiences to the surface. If you find yourself responding in ways you never intended, it can be an opportunity to understand where those responses come from and create new ways of relating with both your child and you.

Therapy for Pregnancy and Postpartum

Pregnancy and postpartum can ask you to become someone new while you’re depleted, sleep-deprived, and surrounded by expectations about who you’re supposed to be.

Attachment is central to how I think about this transition. We explore:

• Identity & the transition to parenthood
• Attachment & early caregiving experiences
• Partnership & changing relationships
• Expectations, ambivalence, & adjustment
• Connection with your baby

Together, we create space for the full complexity of this experience without judgment or the added weight of feeling like you should be experiencing it differently.

I have a particular soft spot for parents of multiples. Much of the advice for new parents assumes one baby, one pair of arms, and one need at a time. When there are two (or more!), the demands—and the guilt that can come with them—can feel uniquely overwhelming. As a twin mom myself, this is familiar ground.

Therapy for Infertility and Family Building

Infertility is a particular kind of grief: largely invisible, and often lonely.

It can make your body feel unfamiliar, turn time into something measured by appointments and outcomes, and bring complicated questions about what you imagined your family would look like. Therapy can offer a place to explore:

• Body & sense of self
• Partnership & intimacy
• Family & cultural expectations
• Uncertainty & changing hopes
• Paths to family building

There may be questions you aren’t ready to answer or aren’t even sure how to ask. Our work can make room for that uncertainty without judgment or the pressure to know what comes next.

Therapy for Burnout

Burnout is rarely just about workload.

Often, it grows from patterns of over-functioning that were adaptive once but may no longer serve you. Therapy can offer a place to explore:

• Over-functioning & responsibility
• Achievement & self-worth
• Boundaries & taking up space
• Patterns rooted in early relationships
• Permission to want, rest, and receive

Together, we can look at where these patterns came from, what they’re costing you, and what it might mean to live with less pressure to hold everything together.

Experience and Training

I hold an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy with a concentration in Trauma Studies. My clinical training included providing individual therapy to youth navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, family conflict, and questions of identity.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than a decade working with a Los Angeles-based organization serving Asian and Pacific Islander survivors of domestic and family violence. I began in transitional shelter, supporting survivors as they rebuilt their lives, and later led Parenting with Nonviolence groups for parents while training community educators to bring the program into their own communities.

Those years taught me that we all want to have our experiences witnessed, make sense of our stories, and feel connected and anchored in community. That understanding continues to shape how I see therapy: creating a place where people can feel truly known and understand themselves in new ways.

My additional training includes Nonviolent Parenting Educator Training with Ruth Beaglehole, 65-hour Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Counselor certification, and Healing Arts for Survivors training.

A Little About Me

I’m an American-born daughter of Korean immigrants, a wife, and a mom to twins. I have a background in visual arts and have always loved creating. Making things, whether it’s food or crafts, gives me a chance to slow down and get out of my head. It’s meditative, grounding, and genuinely fun. I love gathering people around the table for a good meal, and connecting with other people is one of the things that brings me the most joy.

I’m also a sucker for a good underdog story. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose! Friday Night Lights and Tombstone are among my favorites. I love watching someone find their way through a system that wasn’t built with them in mind, challenge what isn’t working, and kick some butt. I think that’s part of what draws me to this work. I believe in people’s capacity to find their footing, challenge what isn’t working, and create something different—to go against the grain, find a way forward, and prevail.

If something here feels familiar or sounds like the kind of support you’ve been looking for, I’d love to hear from you!

Registered California Board of Behavioral Sciences Number: AMFT 156763

Supervised by Phuong Tang, LCSW 27966