Welcome! I’m Emily,
I help mixed and third-culture people come home to themselves by softening old patterns, finding their voice, and learning to move through the world with more ease
In our work together, therapy becomes a space to gently notice the parts of you that have learned to adapt, perform, or disappear to fit in. I offer a warm, curious, and collaborative space where all of your experiences are welcome, especially the ones that feel hard to name. My approach is grounded in humanistic and Gestalt therapy, which means I focus less on “fixing” and more on helping you deepen awareness, connect with your body, and build a more trusting relationship with yourself. Over time, that awareness creates the space for something new ease, authenticity, and a way of being that finally feels like you.
I grew up moving often, born in Japan, raised between Singapore and the US, and eventually landing in the Bay Area. Each move meant learning a new language, not just spoken words, but how to read people, how to belong. I became deeply attuned to others’ needs, always observing, adapting, and finding my place in the mix. Over time, I realized how easy it was to lose touch with my own rhythms in the process.
As I’ve grown, I’ve been learning what it means to turn that same sensitivity inward, to listen to myself with the same care I once reserved for everyone else. That’s what coming home to yourself means to me: remembering you have a say in how you want to show up, and allowing that to be enough.
Trainings:
Attachment Theory: A Decolonized Approach; Linda Thai
Certificate in Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Levels I, II, and III; Linda Thai
IFS and Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate; Embody Lab
Gestalt Trainings; Integral Counseling Center Church Street
Integrating Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy; Dr. Keith Sutton
Couples Emotional Focused Therapy Externship; British Emotional Focused Therapy
Integrating Multicultural Realities with EFT; Dr. Paul Guillory
Organizations I’ve been apart of:
Bay Area Gestalt Institute, AMFT
Integral Counseling Center Church Street, AMFT
Integral Counseling Center Church Street, Trainee
Degree:
Counseling Psychology MA; California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)
