During my undergraduate program, I became extremely overwhelmed and stressed in my sophomore year.

The culmination of

led me to my first therapy session.

I didn’t know how to adult.

I felt lost and hopeless.

I felt a lot of pain. In the midst of the pain, I can still recall the magic of unraveling on my therapist's couch.

It was incredibly healing to sit across from another warm presence, who was unbiased and who could hold my pain without imposing their expectations on me to “do something about it”.

It was one the first times I felt accepted, regardless of how I showed up.

I began to see the value in knowing myself better through exploration, insight, and introspection.

• working part time

• going to school full time

• living away from home

Here’s a secret:

Being therapist was not my first career. I worked in accounting for years hoping to climb up the corporate ladder.

I didn’t particularly enjoy staring a screen and punch numbers. It was not exactly my… forte.

I revisited the idea of psychology by dipping my toes into Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and working as a Registered Behavioral Technician (RBT) in Southern California.

I went from sitting at the computer hours at a time crunching numbers to sitting on the floor, immersed in play, wondering where the time had gone.

Little did I know, I've finally found my purpose.

In my clinical training, my areas of focus became working with school aged children in the public and private school systems in LA and Orange County.

Now, I especially enjoy working with young adults and adults by supporting their challenges of adulthood, as I feel personally connected to this time in life.

You are whole. You are valuable.

Life can feel really full on the other side.

Being a first generation Vietnamese American woman, I lean into hearing how your early childhood and cultural experiences may have influenced your identity and relationship to your world today.

I am passionate about being a psychotherapist and be given the opportunity to listen to peoples’ stories. I’ve learned ( in my own work and as a therapist) that at the core of our being, we crave to have our most basic needs met:

to be heard, seen, and understood.

photos by: Jenn Hyman Photography