THERAPIST

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT #148894) in California. I graduated with my master's from Palo Alto University and my Ph.D. in Counselor Education Supervision from Regent University. I have worked in private practice and in college settings providing therapy to a wide range of needs. I am also trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) from Emdria International. I specialize in anxiety, depression, trauma, acculturation, academic success, adult ADHD symptoms management and relational conflict. As a China born Chinese American, I also have extensive experience working with Chinese and Asian clients in intergenerational conflict and acculturative stress. 

 

My approach to counseling is trauma-informed, and I believe that trauma impacts the whole person- body, mind, soul, and spirit. When someone experiences a traumatic event—whether it's a single overwhelming incident or a buildup of distress over time—the central nervous system (CNS) can go into survival mode. This triggers the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response, governed by the autonomic nervous system. In the moment, this response is adaptive: your heart races, adrenaline surges, and your body prepares to either escape danger or face it head-on. For many people, once the threat is gone, the nervous system returns to a baseline state of calm. But for others—especially in cases of trauma—the system gets stuck in that hyper-aroused state. This is partly because trauma can overwhelm the brain’s ability to process and integrate what happened. 

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Here's what happens neurologically:

• The amygdala, the brain's fear center, becomes hyperactive, always on alert for danger.

• The hippocampus, which helps distinguish past from present, may not properly store the memory, leading to flashbacks or emotional reliving.

• The prefrontal cortex, responsible for rational thought and emotional regulation, may go offline during trauma and remain underactive afterward.

As a result, the traumatic memory doesn’t get stored like a typical memory. Instead, it remains vivid, sensory-rich, and emotionally raw—like it’s still happening. The body reacts as if the trauma is present, not past. This is why survivors might experience anxiety, panic attacks, hypervigilance, or emotional numbing long after the event.

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma therapy specifically designed to help people get unstuck from this state.

EMDR works by:

1. Activating the traumatic memory in a safe, controlled way—bringing it to mind without being overwhelmed by it.

2. Using bilateral stimulation (often guided eye movements, taps, or sounds) to engage both sides of the brain.

The bilateral stimulation mimics the brain's natural processing state during REM sleep, when we consolidate memories. In EMDR, this helps the brain:

• Reprocess the trauma, integrating it into a more adaptive, less distressing form.

• Desensitize the emotional charge, so the memory feels like something that happened in the past, not something still happening now.

Clients often find that after successful EMDR sessions:

• The memory becomes less vivid and emotionally triggering.

• They gain new insights or perspectives on the event.

• Their nervous system can finally return to a regulated state.

 

EMDR allows the brain and body to complete the processing that got interrupted during the traumatic event—helping people move from survival mode into safety, clarity, and connection.

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