My name is Mike (he/him) and I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist who has been lucky to have joined this career. I have worked in the mental health field for nearly 8 years, 5 of which have been as a therapist. My journey began with folks struggling with substance use addiction at an inpatient treatment center for adults. This led me to attending graduate school where I did community work, as well as work as a therapist at a High School and at Rady Children’s Hospital Outpatient Psychiatry. After this I worked with teens involved in the legal system in Contra Costa County doing therapy in the home, and later working for the Union of Pan Asian Communities helping many of San Diego Asian and Asian Pacific Islander community navigate a multitude of experiences at many ages.
Narrative therapy, EMDR, DBT, and EFT are some of the modalities I am most familiar and experienced with and I love to use. When listening to client’s stories, it is important for me to not take experiences for granted and rest on assumptions but add richness to our stories and experiences as well as help us find the agency to make the changes we need. Our best feelings and worst feelings have a wealth of information and are worth exploring. It’s a value of mine to be curious and consider the many contexts we live in as well as our intersectionality when considering what brings you to therapy. I want to hold your values up high and seek wisdom that comes from you, your family, your culture, and your faith.
Most of my clinical experience has been working with folks of color, teens, adults, I am so thankful that I have been given the privilege to sit with others while they seek new experiences and diminished pain or discomfort. I’m aware that sometimes therapy can be a very mixed experience, as we have either had different therapists in our life, have never tried it, or have had past bad experiences. am extremely aware of the hurt that carelessness and microaggressions can cause during therapy and it’s very important that I work daily on being an aware, educated, and mindful clinician of everything that comes with race, gender, culture, sexuality, ability, age, privilege, and all other intersectionalities I missed. I love bringing social justice and acknowledging where folks have been harmed by larger systems and I’m not afraid to talk about that.
Something I appreciate EMDR and Narrative for, is when our pains don’t seemingly have an immediate answer on how to “fix” an issue. Someone once told me about the concept of “unmet longings”, and how this is something that can universally be an experience we have.
These questions often don’t have answers, or often have very painful ones. Sometimes in our moments of highest duress we skip feeling the pain of our deepest unmet longings (often to survive) and I believe sometimes rather than immediately finding a solution there needs to be permission, safety, and space with another trusted person to feel this fully. Sometimes also, there is wisdom in our longings where people often label depression as all bad, I always want to ask the question if it is serving a purpose or trying to tell us something. No, I don’t want depression to rule your day-to-day life or your suffering to continue, but it might be carrying a message we need to listen to. There might not be a way to meet some of those longings, but there is a way to find peace with them or find out how to meet them.
Kindness, gentleness, patience, and humor are a few qualities that I think that come with spending time with me both personally and clinically. The world is such a big and beautiful place and I want you to feel excited to try every flavor, see every sight, hear every song, and create something that brings you joy, peace, or whatever you are seeking. I’m really excited at the chance to meet you, and would love to walk beside you in whatever you’re experiencing.
Narrative therapy, EMDR, DBT, and EFT are some of the modalities I am most familiar and experienced with and I love to use. When listening to client’s stories, it is important for me to not take experiences for granted and rest on assumptions but add richness to our stories and experiences as well as help us find the agency to make the changes we need. Our best feelings and worst feelings have a wealth of information and are worth exploring. It’s a value of mine to be curious and consider the many contexts we live in as well as our intersectionality when considering what brings you to therapy. I want to hold your values up high and seek wisdom that comes from you, your family, your culture, and your faith.
Most of my clinical experience has been working with folks of color, teens, adults, I am so thankful that I have been given the privilege to sit with others while they seek new experiences and diminished pain or discomfort. I’m aware that sometimes therapy can be a very mixed experience, as we have either had different therapists in our life, have never tried it, or have had past bad experiences. am extremely aware of the hurt that carelessness and microaggressions can cause during therapy and it’s very important that I work daily on being an aware, educated, and mindful clinician of everything that comes with race, gender, culture, sexuality, ability, age, privilege, and all other intersectionalities I missed. I love bringing social justice and acknowledging where folks have been harmed by larger systems and I’m not afraid to talk about that.
Something I appreciate EMDR and Narrative for, is when our pains don’t seemingly have an immediate answer on how to “fix” an issue. Someone once told me about the concept of “unmet longings”, and how this is something that can universally be an experience we have.
- “Why is my marriage miserable?”
- “Why won’t my child make safe choices?
- “Why did cancer take my loved one?”
- “When will my depression go away?”
These questions often don’t have answers, or often have very painful ones. Sometimes in our moments of highest duress we skip feeling the pain of our deepest unmet longings (often to survive) and I believe sometimes rather than immediately finding a solution there needs to be permission, safety, and space with another trusted person to feel this fully. Sometimes also, there is wisdom in our longings where people often label depression as all bad, I always want to ask the question if it is serving a purpose or trying to tell us something. No, I don’t want depression to rule your day-to-day life or your suffering to continue, but it might be carrying a message we need to listen to. There might not be a way to meet some of those longings, but there is a way to find peace with them or find out how to meet them.
Kindness, gentleness, patience, and humor are a few qualities that I think that come with spending time with me both personally and clinically. The world is such a big and beautiful place and I want you to feel excited to try every flavor, see every sight, hear every song, and create something that brings you joy, peace, or whatever you are seeking. I’m really excited at the chance to meet you, and would love to walk beside you in whatever you’re experiencing.