Racial Identity

I am a cultural worker and community organizer of Historic Filipinotown. Additionally, I have provided mental health services and inclusive programs for BIPOC communities that address ethnic development, acculturation, and cultural values.

Race means a multitude of things depending who you ask. I have been working with BI&POC communities my entire career with a specialization in mixed individuals navigating their own identity.

I facilitate healing and growth, acknowledging the intersectionality of identities through earned wisdom and lived experience as an Asian American. I navigate sensitive issues, fostering trust and empowerment using cultural healing and incorporating decolonized approaches to therapy. My practice integrates evidence-based techniques with cultural sensitivity, ensuring clients receive affirming and effective support on their journey towards self-discovery and resilience.

I use a mixture of lived experience and clinical knowledge to support my clients in exploring and feeling empowered within their racial identities. It can be a complex and vulnerable thing to explore what your racial identity means to you. Having a therapist that can guide and support that exploration and self-understanding without judging or having any kind of feels about it can be liberating! I love creating that space for BIPOC folks to exist and explore themselves without judgement.

Exploring topics of racial, cultural, and ethnic background as it relates to one’s family origins and personal identity.

Through my own journey and working with others I know the challenges facing those with mixed or complex identities. So many people can't know how the world, even family, is going to treat them at any given moment and it's exhausting. Some of us are fluent in two or more cultures that don't feel compatible. Also exhausting. Increasing your own inner resources will help you find you relief in a world that wants labels on everyone.

I have over 17 years of experience - both clinical and research - in racial identity development.

I have experience working with folks who want to process their racial and cultural experiences and the ways in which they are impacted. I have also worked with people who feel disconnected from their racial and cultural identities.

As a black man in America i first hand understand and have the lived experience of what it is like being black in this country. As a first generation African American, i also have the lived experience of being raised in two different cultures and navigating the different cultural dynamics.

There are many individuals who are facing multiple forms of violence through relationships with toxic systems. In my work, I stress that real love does not require one to give up their freedom for the sake of belonging. It’s in the power of our ability to use our voice and to think and feel for ourselves that we find the power to stand alone and stand with others. The ability to do both is what real freedom and real love requires. You deserve to be free and to feel love.

As a Black therapist, I will give you the space to process your identity and racial trauma, as well as, any challenges that come with navigating a white supremacy society.

I can accompany you in your journey of navigating the complexities of being your true self in a society that may not value your unique point of view. You may face competing demands to fit into mainstream American society and into your respective cultural groups. This may lead to having double or triple the expectations, as you are trying to please various audiences. I can assist you in making sense of the different contexts you have existed in and how these have influenced your wellbeing.

At my other practice, Anise Health, I work with clients from the Asian and Asian American community, and we specifically specialize in giving culturally-responsive care. I have been working with clients who are first-generation immigrants, children of immigrants and refugees, and biracial clients and helping them understand their racial identity more, in addition to helping them understand their generational trauma and relationship with their parents.

As a Black woman, I bring a unique perspective to my practice that is rooted in both professional expertise and personal experience. I understand the complexities and nuances of navigating racial identity in today's society. I provide a safe and affirming space where individuals can explore their racial identity, process experiences of discrimination and oppression, and cultivate a sense of empowerment and resilience.

Much of my graduate level research and training has been in understanding the complex racial identity development of people of color and White individuals. My dissertation research included examining how Black clients responded to White therapists who overtly broach cross-racial differences in the therapy session.

I help folks explore and connect with sources of cultural and racial respect, identity, & resilience. I believe racism is a collective and systemic trauma that can result in the fragmentation, denigration, erasure, & invisibilization of the narratives, stories, & experiences of BIPOC communities. By working to reconnect with your direct embodied, cultural, & ancestral sense of your social body, you can reclaim cultural and racial empowerment.

As a multiracial person myself, I understand the complexity of race and culture and it impacts our sense of identity, self and belonging. In order to develop a positive sense of self, it is imperative that we be allowed to explore and connect to these aspects of ourselves. It is my passion and pleasure to be able to provide this space to my clients of all backgrounds and experiences, and especially to those who are trans or interracially adopted or those from multiracial homes.