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Hello! I'm Dr. Song. I am a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who considers self-awareness and self-understanding crucial for enhancing interpersonal relationship skills and developing the ability to tolerate and manage life stressors in an integrated and holistic way.
My approach
I value the bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model to holistically understand individuals, and I use a client-centered approach, where I like to collaborate with my clients bringing my knowledge and their experiences together. I am trained to think using psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral therapy as my theoretical foundation. I also use emotion-focused therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and play therapy techniques, as appropriate.
My focus
My training has been focused on working with children, adolescents, and adults. I have treated individuals with trauma, anxiety, depression, dissociation, ADHD, autism, perfectionism, stress, relational struggles, grief, and life transition. I work to facilitate my clients in identifying the directions they want to take as their next step and to collaboratively come up with coping strategies that are effective for them. With my desire to bring clarity and peace to my clients, I have found that my approach and training are a good fit for individuals of any age who are ready for self-development.
My communication style
I value my clients feeling validated and understood. I believe that self-awareness provides insight into the directions individuals need to take. If challenging is necessary for growth towards strengthening the sense of self, I also do that too. Overall, my communication style is calm, gentle, curious, and accommodating.
My journey to mental healthcare
Growing up as an immigrant, I saw many broken relationships, especially those of families, due to miscommunication and misunderstandings. Wanting to be a bridge for individuals who experience the detrimental effects of broken relationships, I decided to become a therapist and bring healing and improvement to these relationships, especially those of parent-child and with self.
My goals for you
I first collaboratively set goals with my clients to establish expectations for our sessions. Depending on my client's preferences, we decide how we will get there by choosing preferred modalities (e.g., skill-based, talk-based, EMDR-based, or a mixture of everything, etc.). Progress is tracked and discussed.
My first session with you
The first session is a little bit different from the follow-up sessions. The first session is about both of us getting to know each other as we build rapport and me getting a sense of what would be beneficial for you. For this, I will be asking you some questions about what brought you to therapy today, any symptoms you are experiencing, any goals and expectations you have for therapy, and any concerns or questions. If necessary, I will also provide coping strategies and/or psychoeducation for quick relief of stress before we can meet again. I like to fill in the blank page or gaps by listening to you during the first session and thereafter.
