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WELCOME.
My name is Sharon (she/her) I am a 5th gen Chinese American born and raised in the East Bay with immigration roots in SF/Oakland Chinatown. I identify as cisgender and am the mother of an exuberant preschooler.
I specialize in international trauma -- the trauma our ancestors before us experienced as a result of genocide, racism/ classicism / misogyny, immigration hardship, family separation, fleeing one’s homeland as a refugee, traumatic death of a loved one, poverty or starvation, secret or forbidden relationships, holding onto shameful family secrets. All of the above and more inflict so much pain on an individual that in order to survive one must cope. We are the children of such resilience as to survive and also a legacy of extremely costly and painful ways of coping.
Therapy is a commitment to yourself to take time to identify these patterns of coping and become aware of how they operate in your life. Instead of overriding and trying to substitute them with other things, my work is to help you get to know how these patterns of coping came to be in your life and the story they carry within your family lines. We honor how helpful they have been in your survivorship and acknowledge that they may not need to continue to do that work any longer.
There is no guarantee of instant change, but I do believe every minute of your time that you commit to yourself is an investment and will somehow be returned to you in a beneficial way.
Those whom I have worked with...
-- those transitioning to parenthood
-- multicultural couples and families
-- those who are deconstructing and reconstructing Christian faith
-- those working relationally-based 12-step programs (ACoA, Al-Anon, CODA)
Common issues I help with...
-- distrust around feelings, how they are helpful and/or harmful
-- finding a critical voice comes more quickly or is louder than we’d like
-- fears and anxieties around navigating boundaries with others
-- feeling stuck and indecisive as a result of conflicting feelings
-- engaging relationships in a more proactive vs. reactive way
When it comes to my work...
-- I believe each individual has the right to name their own story and feelings.
-- I believe we become closer to those we love when we are able to share our experiences with them.
-- I believe each couple has the ability to make steps towards engaging each other again even while it feels impossible to do so
-- I believe the space for therapy can hold what you need it to - resolve crisis, getting to know different parts of you, or to air out anxious thoughts in order to hear what's actually going on with you.
-- I believe in collaboratively engaging your goals.
If any of the above resonates with you, I'd love to hear about what you're looking for. Please email and we can arrange a consult to connect.
-- CA MFT License No. 107214
-- M.S. MFT, Fuller Theological Seminary
-- CAMFT Member
-- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship
-- Trauma Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health