- Life Coaching
- Expatriate & Immigrant Mental Health
- Family of Origin
- Third Culture Kid
- Cross-generational Trauma
- Cross-cultural Couples Counseling
- Life Transition & Adjustment
- Youth Support
- LGBTQ Mental Health
- Coaching and Counseling for Mental Health Professionals
Professional Experiences
*Founder & Current Chair of Taiwan Multicultural Counseling Association
www.taiwanmca.org
*Professional Superviser (Mandarin & English)
*Taiwan Cooridnator of USA Taiwan Psychology Network
- *Intern Counselor at City of Fremont Youth & Family Services, California
*Director of Counseling at Junyi Experimental School in Taitung, Taiwan
*Telephone Counselor at Santa Clara County Crisis Line, California
*Life Coach at Academy of Art University, California
*Life Coach at Devry University (U.S. online)
*Intervention Specialist for autistic children and family at Aspiranet Family Intervention Program, California
[Online Life Coaching for International Clients]
A large part of my career now is providing transition, leadership and relationship coaching. I have had the benefit of receiving three years of comprehensive and innovative training from InsideTrack Coaching in San Francisco, including 3000 client coaching hours. I have also been trained by International Coaching Federation accredited institutions. Through online sessions, I have coached a wide range of clients from many different countries with backgrounds as international students, managers and business owners, engineers, professionals in transition, and people who feel therapy is not exactly what they need at this stage of life.
Coaching involves elements of counseling, but is more short-term and structured, present & future-focused, goal-oriented, and outcome-based. A coach would partner with clients to develop a plan, identify obstacles that are holding them back, motivate clients to make the most of their strength, and pinpoint any resistance to change. Clients are viewed as already whole when entering a coaching relationship.
Coaching can benefit people who are looking for guidance in confidence, career change, self-worth and esteem, work-life balance, relationships, finding purpose, health, emotional intelligence, a significant life change, and much more.
[Psychotherapy for International Clients]
Licensure/Certification
- Taiwan Counseling Psychologist License
- Certificate of Telephone Counseling, Bill Wilson Center, CA
- Certificate of Domestic Violence Counseling, Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments, CA
Styles & Ethics
- * Therapeutic rapport and trust is an essential part of healing. The basic elements of my work consist of authenticity, genuineness, transparency, unconditional positive regard and acceptance.
- * Cultural humility is the core value here. I am respectful of each client's political, sexual, and spititual beliefs and practices.
- *Although having a diagnosis might be useful, mental health diagnostic labels sometimes limit our perspectives. This will be handled carefully.
- *My therapeutic style is developmental and strength-based. Clients are supported in finding his/her inner strength and resources in a safe environment.
Orientation and Philosophy
My approach to counseling is an eclectic blend of person-centered, psychodynamic, family systems, AEDP approach and life coaching elements. I have lived and worked in 6 different cities in the United States for a total of 10 years in my younger days. As a third-culture kid myself, I often find "flow" in working with youth, adults and couples on the collectivist-individualist spectrum.
The populations I often work with are expats in Taiwan, Asian Americana starting a new phase in life, cross-cultural couples, international students, overseas Taiwanese, LGBTQ, and so on. Over the years, I have adapted a culturally sensitive model in working with clients from extremly diverse socioeconomic backgrounds: graduates of elite universities struggling with mental health issues, adult children of under-privileged families, Silicon Valley's high tech workers, first and second-generation immigrants, youth in transition, retired professionals and aboriginal youth in eastern Taiwan.
Clients find their own meanings in self-discovery and self-actualization. A person's worldview can be the result of culture, education, early childhood experiences, family upbringing and major life events. All humans have a remarkable capacity for self-healing; my clients have demonstrated that in every breakdown, there is an opportunity for a breakthrough. I am inspired again and again by stories of transcending the darkness and embracing the new.
Please note:
*Sliding scale service is available for clients with aboriginal and Southeast Asian backgrounds. Please contact the staff for more information. Thank you!
*Individual therapy/coaching is 50minutes per session
*Couple's therapy/coaching is 80 minutes per session