Facilitating Dialogues for Stronger Families
As relational beings, we thrive when our relationships are strong, healthy, and happy.
We all yearn for fulfilling relationships, but we don’t always know how to cope with the challenges they present. As a result, many families struggle with issues that keep them in conflict instead of harmony. In my practice as a family therapist, I collaborate with you and your loved ones to restore an authentic, loving connection.
Change Begins with the Whole Family
Rather than focusing on an individual’s pathology, I seek to observe relationship patterns, because each individual is impacted by their interactions with the entire family. In order to create changes at the systemic level, I invite every member to talk about the family’s struggles, how they developed, what has been done to address the problems, and what changes they would like to see happen.
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A New Chapter for Your Family
As we move through life, every family faces some choppy weather. Sometimes we even encounter storms.
Families face curveballs like divorce, blending families, bereavement, feuds, disabilities, and illnesses—and may require professional help to navigate these issues. In other instances, families want to take a proactive approach and seek therapy to nip potential problems in the bud.
Whether facing a current crisis or navigating other transitions, the families I work with are committed to a collaborative therapeutic process that will help them turn a new leaf.
An Inclusive Practice
I serve families from all ethnic, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds, as well as heterosexual and same-sex-headed households. Because of my own background as a Chinese-American, I also work with Asian and Chinese families, in those with a history of immigration. For these families, I help bridge the gap between common cultural, generational, and ideological differences.
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Areas of Specialization
I offer a structured space for families to learn and receive feedback about each member’s impact on the others. I help each family member hear each other’s feelings, thoughts, and concerns despite their differences. Though I see clients facing a variety of challenges, most of the families I work with require specialization in one of the following areas:
Resentment & Estrangement
Many people find themselves in lose-lose situations in their families. If you pursue what you want, you may be criticized, or called selfish--your family may even feel abandoned and guilt-trip you. On the other hand, if you give in to your family’s expectations, there’s a cost to your happiness and well-being: you may not live a life authentic to you.
A lack of emotional safety in a family can also stunt communication between children and their parents. When you fear judgment for revealing your true feelings, you gradually stop sharing your inner world. This leads to misunderstandings, emotional disconnection, and estrangement. Although many children know their parents love them, they don’t feel safe being honest with their parents, because their parents shut down these expressions with guilt trips surrounding their love.
Family therapy is a place to create new ways of loving your family that doesn’t involve abandoning yourself. I help families heal from past hurt and grow as a unit by restoring a safe space for sharing.
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Feeling Stuck
You may find yourself stuck in rigid roles in your family, such as the good kid, the caregiver, the rescuer, the entertainer, the black sheep, the scapegoat, the “problem,” the troublemaker, and so on. These roles don’t fully reflect who you are. Being stuck in certain roles may leave you feeling exhausted and resentful. I help you clarify your dreams within your family dynamics, grieve unmet needs, and explore the balance between showing up for yourself and caring for your family, so you can move past stagnation and into possibility.
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Immigrant Families
Immigrant families often face conflicting worldviews between members because of their different life experiences. Guilt is a common emotion that third-culture kids feel for the hardship and trauma their parents endured to survive in the U.S. At the same time, children born to immigrant parents struggle with their parents who have different values and beliefs.
Both immigrant parents and third-culture kids (and adults) have a difficult time showing vulnerabilities. They may not know how to consider and incorporate each other’s practical and emotional needs and get stuck in cycles of disagreement. I strive to help families struggling with differences find a path forward that’s respectful of their cultures and traditions, so they can find their own solutions. I help immigrant families find mutual understanding, and ultimately, learn to appreciate one another’s authenticity. I equip families with tools so they can express their love for each other authentically. By equipping immigrant families with new tools, I help different generations find mutual understanding, appreciate one another’s authenticity, and ultimately, express their love with affirming and validating practices.
Intergenerational Trauma
Inheritance is more than material—we also inherit behavioral patterns and coping strategies from our families. Unresolved trauma takes a heavy toll on family dynamics for generations to come. Although this trauma affects the entire family, trauma survivors are stuck in a survival headspace, and often minimize or shut down dialogues that could result in healing and understanding. I help families learn the extent of the traumatic history at hand, discuss its impact, and bring compassion to the unresolved trauma, so we can put cycles of intergenerational trauma to rest for future generations.
Family Therapy Intensives
In family therapy, there are many perspectives that need to be explored. In order to build therapeutic momentum, families may find that longer sessions are necessary. In these instances, I offer extended sessions to conduct deeper investigations regarding core conflicts and issues.
Do you have questions about my work with families?
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Outcomes
My work with families isn’t about rehashing trauma or shifting blame; instead, it’s about learning how to communicate effectively. I use evidence-based approaches to help you have productive conversations with your loved ones.
Families who work with me:
- Gain insights about how family patterns have been created and reinforced over time.
- Create new ways of communicating and relating.
- Release themselves from resentment.
- Validate each family member’s thoughts and feelings.
- Repair old wounds by showing remorse, apologizing and taking accountability.
- Understand and heal from intergenerational trauma.
- Restore connection between parents and children who struggle with cultural gaps.
- Resolve clashing values among different generations.
- Learn to show up authentically to one another.
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Session Structure and Pricing
I accommodate therapists seeking both long-term and short-term consultations. The frequency of consultations is determined by your individual goals and needs.
$200 per 50 minutes
In this meeting, we establish your therapeutic goals. I then provide you a roadmap, outlining the work we will address for the next 5-10 sessions.
$175 per 50 minutes
$260 per 75 minutes
$350 per 90 minutes
$525 per 3 hours
As an out-of-network provider, I can provide invoices to submit to your insurance plans if out-of-network benefits apply.
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Looking for harmony in your family’s dynamics?
Send Me a Message
