Education:

M.A., Social Work, University of Iowa (Anticipated 2025)

B.A., Psychology, University of Iowa 2020

Certificate in Resilience and Trauma-​Informed Perspectives, University of Iowa 2020

My Approach to Therapy:

I firmly believe that we never stop growing. I am here to help people grow in whatever way they wish. Whether this looks like managing stress, working together to find solutions to problems, or considering values and ways we can work those values, theoptions are unlimited, and there is no one way to grow or heal.

My approach is client-centered and strengths-based. I do not tell a client what to do to fix a problem or how to act. Instead, this is a collaborative effort. I work with clients to draw on their own strengths to help them determine the solution. Through this practicum, I will also use various skills from therapies likeMotivational Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), skills work (like ones found in Dialectical Behavior Therapy [DBT]), as well as aspects of Behavioral Activation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help the client achieve their goals. I will also bring a trauma-informed lens into every session to help clients heal and prevent more harm.

Experience and Interest:

My academic background consists of psychology and social work, which helps to provide a foundation for looking at situations from a person-in-environment point of view. My professional experience consists of crisis counseling in multiple settings. I have worked with clients on a wide range of issuesfrom housing insecurity, interpersonal issues, panic attacks, hallucinations and delusions, and thoughts of suicide and self-harm.

As a queer, disabled, Chinese American, my interests focus on helping those in our community who struggle in a society that does not support them. I ultimately aim to work with people of color, low-income people, and LGBTQ+ individuals. I strive to not only continually educate myself on other identities and their struggles, but to also advocate for these groups. My clinical interests also include anxiety, depression, dissociative disorders, ADHD, dual diagnosis (substance use disorders and mental illness), interpersonal issues, self-identity concerns (and how they may change or interact with other identities), and skill work.

Outreach:

This semester my outreach will be centered around coping and working with anxiety. With this, I will be assisting with the Managing Anxiety Workshop.