Get to know me 

My name is Catherine (she/them) and I currently live on Huchiun, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people in the East Bay, CA. As a first-generation Asian American, and a Korean via Japan where I was born, I am twice removed from my ancestors' place of origin. My childhood experiences of immigration and straddling cultures and languages informed my first questions about identities, belonging, culture, and power. 

My professional background and commitments reflect these questions. I have worn several hats in pursuit of answers - from academia, teaching, and mentoring, to immigrant rights advocacy and coordinating support for people in confinement/detainment, and community-based mental wellness. When I think about all the various efforts, I am struck by the process by which people learned the power of their voice, and how their perspectives and depths of their experiences mattered.

In each of these capacities, it has been exciting, and an honor to work with people to grow and nourish their stories and to develop their voice. An important part of this has been to always make space for the impact of culture, history, and power in amplifying or muting this voice.

I have carried over these commitments to my work with clients as a culturally affirming therapist with a strong anti-oppression and trauma-informed lens. It will be my privilege to work with you to explore the root cause of what feels stuck, stifled, or out of alignment and confront those struggles with compassion and curiosity.  We will encounter along the way those stories that you may have inherited, have come to tell yourself, as well as those that are told of you by dominant cultures. 

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Mental Health Liberation Service-Provider 

​UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, Psychedelic Facilitation Program Fellow

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Education and training:

UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics Facilitation Program

Women's Therapy Center, Berkeley CA

Seeds of Awareness/Fiddleheads Eco-Therapy program, Oakland CA

Sonoma State, MA, Community Mental Health Counseling

Stanford University, PhD, History of Modern Asia, Feminist Studies