Individual Therapy

Individual Therapy NYC

Therapy is not about fixing people. It is about accompanying you as you become more fully yourself. In my individual therapy work in NYC, I combine psychodynamic and experiential, emotion-focused approaches to help you feel safe exploring your emotional world, making sense of your inner patterns, and reconnecting with parts of yourself that may have long gone unseen. I work primarily with Chinese and Asian American adults, in both English and 中文, and I also offer relational support through couples therapy NYC. Together, we work through pain while uncovering the vitality, clarity, and connection that come from truly knowing yourself, and bringing this deeper self into your relationships with others.

How I Approach Individual Therapy

My work is depth-oriented, experiential, and integrative. Rather than offering quick fixes or fixed protocols, I help you slow down and listen to what your mind and body have been carrying, often for far longer than you realized. The work is collaborative: we move at a pace that respects what you can hold, and we let what matters most rise to the surface in its own time.

Underneath the techniques is a simple belief: real change tends to happen through experience, not just understanding. Insight matters, but it is when something is felt, witnessed, and held within a safe relationship that the deeper patterns begin to shift.

Feelings and emotions are only one part of healing. Many people notice they keep repeating the same cycles: pulling away when someone gets close, overthinking every interaction, or trying so hard to please others that they lose themselves. These patterns often have deep roots in early relationships or trauma, shaping how you see yourself and what you expect from others. Together, we make sense of these patterns, so you can loosen their grip, stop repeating the same old story, and feel safe to be yourself in the relationships that matter to you.

My Areas of Focus

Within individual therapy, I draw on several approaches, each offering a different lens on how people grow, suffer, and heal. These shape how I listen, understand, and support you, not as fixed techniques, but as ways to meet you where you are and shape a therapy that fits your unique needs. The four areas below have dedicated pages where you can read more about how I work in each. The two beneath them describe additional frameworks that inform my work.

Trauma Therapy

Compassionate, evidence-based therapy for adults living with the lasting effects of trauma, whether from a single event, long-standing relational wounds, or intergenerational and cultural experiences. My approach is bottom-up, attachment-based, emotion-focused, and experiential, working with the body, the nervous system, and the emotions that were once too overwhelming to fully feel, not only the story.

EMDR Therapy

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based trauma therapy that helps the brain heal from experiences that never fully got processed, whether a single overwhelming event or the complex, ongoing trauma that often begins in childhood. When trauma stays unprocessed, it lives on in the body and nervous system, shaping how you feel about yourself and how safe it feels to be close to others. EMDR helps these stuck memories finally move through and integrate, so what once felt raw and reactive can settle into something you can simply remember, without being pulled back into it.

AEDP Therapy

AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), developed by Dr. Diana Fosha, is an experiential, attachment-based therapy built on a core belief: healing happens when we don’t have to face our deepest pain alone. Together we slow down and turn toward the emotions that have felt too overwhelming to face alone, like grief, fear, shame, and longing, not to analyze them, but to actually experience them through to transformation. AEDP is particularly powerful for adults healing from childhood trauma, attachment wounds, and emotional pain.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy helps you understand yourself on a deeper level by exploring the unconscious emotional and relational patterns that shape how you think, feel, and relate. Many of these patterns were formed early in life and continue to influence you in ways you may not fully realize. By bringing them into awareness, we can begin to untangle the past and open up space for new ways of being, with more freedom, clarity, and self-understanding.

Experiential Therapy

Experiential therapy goes beyond traditional talk therapy by working directly with your emotions, body sensations, and nervous system responses, not just your thoughts. Instead of only analyzing your patterns from the outside, we enter into them together in real time, so that you’re not just talking about what you feel, but speaking from within the feeling itself as it comes alive in the room.

Emotion-Focused Therapy

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based, experiential approach that helps you get in touch with core emotions, the ones underneath the anxiety, the self-criticism, the numbness, or the anger that often shows up on the surface. Many of us learned early on that certain feelings weren’t welcome, so we found ways to push them down, work around them, or turn them against ourselves. But emotions don’t disappear when we ignore them; they shape our bodies, our relationships, and the stories we tell about who we are. EFT gently helps you access, make sense of, and transform the emotions that have been stuck or avoided, so what once felt overwhelming becomes workable, and you begin to trust your emotional life as a source of guidance rather than something to manage or fear.

Internal Family Systems

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a framework I deeply appreciate and have studied as part of my ongoing professional understanding. It begins with a simple but profound idea: we all have different “parts” inside us, the inner critic, the anxious one, the one who works too hard, the one who shuts down, the one who longs to be close but is afraid to trust. These parts aren’t flaws to get rid of; they’re protectors that took on their roles long ago, often in response to pain that had no other outlet. This way of seeing the inner world informs how I listen, and how we make sense of conflicting feelings together.

Therapy for Chinese & Asian American Adults

I work primarily with Chinese and Asian American adults navigating the kinds of inner experiences that often go unspoken: anxiety, perfectionism, the weight of family expectations, intergenerational and cultural wounds, the quiet aftermath of immigration, and the long search for a fuller, freer sense of self. Many of my clients look high-functioning on the outside while privately struggling underneath, holding feelings and experiences that are hard to put into words, and even harder to share with the people closest to them.

Sessions are available in English and 中文. You don’t have to translate yourself here. Both languages, both worlds, are welcome in the room.

What to Expect

Therapy with me is a relationship, not a procedure. Here is what the experience of the work itself tends to feel like.

The power of experiential therapy

We don’t just talk about emotions; we slow down and experience them together. Drawing from AEDP, I guide you to stay with your emotional experience in real time, so what once felt overwhelming can begin to shift. When feelings are met with safety and connection, they often bring unexpected relief, insight, and healing. This kind of work can feel surprisingly relieving, even early on. Emotions that once felt like too much may begin to soften, making space for self-understanding, connection, and self-compassion.

We go deep, together

We don’t just manage symptoms; we explore where they come from. With a depth-oriented and psychoanalytic lens, I help you recognize the unconscious patterns that shape how you feel, relate, and respond. Often rooted in early relationships, these patterns can quietly influence your life today. Together, we make space to feel, reflect, and shift, so change happens not just on the surface, but from the root.

Relational and collaborative

Our relationship is the foundation. I won’t sit back and nod; I’ll be emotionally present, attuned, and interactive. Together, we co-create a space where trust can grow and where your experience feels seen and supported. You won’t be doing this work alone. We’ll do it side by side.

Coming as you are

You don’t need to have the perfect words or a clear goal when we start. Just come as you are. I’ll help us slow down, tune in, and notice what’s happening beneath the surface. Often, even early in the process, something begins to shift, whether it’s a sense of relief, an insight, or simply feeling a little more connected to yourself.

Logistics

Sessions. Sessions are 45 minutes, typically held weekly. Some clients meet twice a week for deeper work.

In-person and online. I see clients both at my office in Manhattan and online over Zoom, available to clients located anywhere in New York State. Many move between the two over time, depending on what fits.

Fees and insurance. The fee is $175 per session. I am an out-of-network (OON) provider and do not bill insurance directly. I can provide a monthly superbill that you can submit to your insurance for possible reimbursement, with the amount varying by plan.

Sliding scale. A limited number of sliding scale spots are available. If cost feels like a barrier, please bring it up during our consultation. I’d rather have an honest conversation than have it quietly stand in the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is individual therapy different from couples or group therapy?

Individual therapy is one-on-one work focused on your inner life, your relationships, and your patterns. It tends to go deeper into your personal history than couples therapy (which centers the relationship itself) or group therapy (which uses shared experience as part of the work). Many clients begin with individual therapy and add other formats only if and when it makes sense.

I’m not sure what “specialty” fits me. How do I choose?

You don’t need to know in advance. In our consultation and early sessions, we can talk together about what you’re bringing, and the approach takes shape from there. Many clients benefit from an integrative blend rather than a single method, and that’s often how the work actually unfolds.

Do you work with clients who have never been in therapy before?

Yes. Quite a few of my clients come to therapy seriously for the first time, often after years of managing on their own. You don’t need prior experience or the “right words” to begin.

Can I have sessions in Mandarin?

Yes. I work in both English and 中文, and many clients move between the two within the same session. Whichever language helps you say what’s true for you is welcome here.

How long does individual therapy usually last?

It varies. Some clients come for focused work over a few months; others stay longer to address deeper patterns. We check in regularly to make sure the work continues to feel meaningful and right for you.

Begin When You’re Ready

If something in you is asking for support, that’s reason enough to reach out. A free consultation is a low-pressure way to see how it feels to talk with me before deciding anything.