Your Questions, Answered
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I offer individual therapy for adults (18+) in both short-term and longer-term formats. I work with clients who are physically located in California, New York, Nevada, South Dakota, and Washington, DC. I also work with English- and Spanish-speaking clients living internationally, including expatriates and those connected to the U.S. State Department or military.
Our work together may include traditional talk therapy and/or financial therapy. Many clients come to me for support with stress, life transitions, identity and cultural issues, career decisions, relationship dynamics, and their relationship with money. My approach is precise, practical, and culturally informed, helping people better understand their patterns and make choices that align with the life they want to build.
I often work with thoughtful, globally minded adults navigating complex careers, cross-cultural lives, or major life decisions.
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I am not in-network with insurance companies. This allows me to practice in a way that prioritizes your privacy and the type of work we decide is most helpful, rather than being limited by insurance requirements.
Insurance companies often require a formal mental health diagnosis and may place restrictions on the type or length of treatment. By working outside of insurance networks, we have more flexibility to focus on your goals and the pace of therapy that feels right for you.
That said, I can provide a Superbill if you have out-of-network benefits. Some clients are able to submit this to their insurance company for partial reimbursement, depending on their plan. Here are questions to ask your insurance:
Do I have out-of-network mental health benefits?
What is my deductible, and has it been met?
What is the reimbursement rate for CPT codes 90791 (Intake) and 90834 (Therapy)?
If my fees are not the right fit, there are several directories that may help you find therapists with different fee structures, including the Asian Mental Health Collective, Open Path Collective, Inclusive Therapists, and the Financial Therapy Association directory. These can be good places to find clinicians with a range of specialties and pricing options.
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A common belief is that therapy focuses on the past while coaching focuses on the future. I respectfully see it a little differently.
In therapy with me, we do start with a thoughtful intake that includes your background and experiences. Understanding where you’ve been helps us make sense of patterns that may still be shaping your decisions, relationships, or relationship with money today. But we don’t stay stuck in the past. We learn from it.
Getting results is part of my DNA. Therapy in my practice is not just about insight, it’s about pairing insight with action. Together we look at how your past experiences inform the present and how you can move toward meaningful, values-aligned changes in your life going forward.
Another practical difference is training and regulation. Therapists are licensed professionals who complete extensive graduate education, clinical supervision, and continuing education requirements. Coaching is a less regulated field, which means anyone can technically call themselves a coach. Many coaches are thoughtful and skilled, but it’s important to check their training and credentials. One organization that offers accreditation is the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
There is room for both therapy and coaching, and both can be helpful depending on what you are looking for. My main hope is that people receive support that is ethical, well-trained, and safe.
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Traditional therapy focuses on emotional well-being, relationships, and life transitions. Financial therapy looks at those same emotional patterns, but through the lens of money. Many people assume money problems are just about budgeting or financial knowledge, but they are often connected to stress, family history, cultural messages, and beliefs we carry about security, success, and self-worth. As a psychologist trained in financial therapy, I help clients understand the deeper, often subconscious patterns that shape how they think and feel about money. I’m not a financial advisor and I don’t give investment or financial recommendations. Instead, we focus on the emotional side of money, how past experiences, habits, and fears influence decisions so you can develop a healthier, more intentional relationship with money.
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Yes! Absolutely. In fact, I strongly recommend it.
My approach is interdisciplinary, which means I often collaborate with financial advisors, planners, and other professionals to support you more holistically. If you’re open to it and sign a Release of Information (ROI), I can coordinate directly with your advisor so we can work as a team.
For advisors who may not be familiar with financial therapy, I’m also happy to explain my role and how I stay in my lane. I focus on the emotional, behavioral, and relational aspects of money, especially where patterns, stress, or past experiences may be influencing decisions. Your advisor focuses on the technical and strategic side. Together, this can lead to more aligned and sustainable outcomes.
If you don’t currently have a financial advisor but are interested in working with one, I also have a network of trusted professionals I can refer you to.
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Many people start with a brief phone consultation so we can see if working together might make sense. This is a chance for you to share a little about what brings you to therapy, ask questions, and get a feel for how I work. It’s informal and there’s no pressure to decide anything on the spot.
If we decide to meet for a first session, that meeting is part of an assessment process. We’ll spend time talking about what’s been going on in your life, what you’d like help with, and any patterns or concerns you’ve noticed. You don’t need to prepare anything or have everything figured out ahead of time. The goal is simply to begin understanding your situation and what kind of support might be most helpful.
After the consultation session, I usually provide a brief summary of what I heard along with some initial thoughts and recommendations about how we might approach the work. That first meeting doesn’t commit you to ongoing therapy. It’s a chance for both of us to see whether it feels like a good fit. If I think another therapist or type of support would serve you better, I will let you know and help point you toward other options.
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EMDR can be done effectively online using a secure platform that provides bilateral stimulation (usually through visual movement on the screen). This closely mirrors what we would do in person.
We don’t jump into EMDR right away. A big part of the process is building trust, learning grounding skills, and developing “resources” to help you feel more stable and supported. That preparation phase is an essential part of EMDR—not separate from it.
Once we begin the reprocessing work, we move at a pace that feels manageable and prioritize your sense of safety throughout.
Virtual EMDR can be a good fit for many people, but it’s not ideal for everyone. If someone dissociates frequently, needs more in-person support, or has difficulty engaging with visual cues on a screen, we may slow the process, adjust the approach, or consider whether in-person care would be more appropriate.
Overall, virtual EMDR can be very effective, it just requires thoughtful pacing, preparation, and a supportive environment.
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My training in graduate school was primarily psychodynamic, which means paying attention to how early experiences, relationships, and unconscious patterns shape the way we think, feel, and make decisions today. Early in my career, working in community mental health and hospital settings, I was also trained in several evidence-based approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and other structured treatments used to address anxiety, trauma, and depression.
Over time, I’ve continued to expand my training and have integrated approaches such as EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), somatic (body/nervous system) work, trauma-informed care, and financial therapy. I’m also attentive to cultural context and the ways that systems of power, oppression, and historical experiences can shape a person’s life.
I also bring a broader philosophical perspective to the work. I grew up in a Buddhist cultural context and today consider myself spiritual, though not affiliated with any particular religion. From that lens, I see pain as a natural part of being human, but suffering is something we often have more influence over than we realize. Difficult and unfair things happen in life, but we still have the capacity to examine the stories we carry about those experiences and reshape the narratives that guide how we move forward.
Many clients tell me they understand their challenges on a cognitive level, they know what they should do—but something still doesn’t feel different internally. Because of this, I try to look at the whole person, not just thoughts or behaviors. That includes emotional patterns, the nervous system, the body, and the broader context of someone’s life. Ideas from the bio-psycho-social model, neurobiology, and emerging research on intergenerational patterns and epigenetics can all help us understand how people develop certain responses or habits.
Based on what you’re looking for, I tailor my approach rather than forcing people into one framework. At the same time, research consistently shows that the most important factor in therapy is the relationship between therapist and client. Feeling understood, respected, and able to think honestly together is what allows meaningful change to happen. The techniques matter, but the quality of the therapeutic relationship is what makes the work effective.
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Many of the people who seek me out are thoughtful, reflective folks who have already spent time trying to understand themselves. They may read widely, think deeply about their choices, and often carry a lot of responsibility in their professional or personal lives. From the outside, they may appear to be doing well, but internally they may feel stuck, uncertain, or disconnected from what they actually want.
I often work with people navigating complex identities, international or cross-cultural lives, major life transitions, or questions about career, purpose, and money. Many clients are looking not just for symptom relief but for a deeper understanding of themselves and their patterns.
Therapy works best when both the client and therapist feel aligned in how they approach the work. My style tends to be reflective and insight-oriented. While we do focus on practical changes, the work often involves exploring patterns, emotions, and deeper motivations.
If you are primarily looking for quick techniques, worksheets, or a highly structured coaching style, another therapist might be a better fit. I tend to focus more on helping people understand themselves at a deeper level so that lasting change becomes possible.
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Please see the below directories where you can sort by country, state, region and specialty (listed in alphabetical order)
Asian Mental Health Collective (AAPI identified therapists)
Financial Therapy Association for financial therapists
Foreign Service/Ex-Pat therapists/coaches
Therapy for Black Girls (Black identified therapists)