MEET
KATHERINE CHAN
Psychotherapist x Yoga & Meditation Teacher
Hi, it's nice to meet you! I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT 134150) in the state of California. My job is to help others find mental, emotional, and relational well-being through psychotherapy.
Prior to mental health, I worked in a corporate, creative industry for several years. As a self-described Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and proud INFP, I realized my superpowers of perceptiveness and kindness could be better served in another field. My first step into mental health was through yoga and meditation. Over the past few years, I've taught at various organizations throughout Los Angeles, including AT&T, USC, and Horizon Media. Today, I often incorporate mindfulness and body-awareness practices into my psychotherapy work with clients.
It is my honor to accompany my therapy clients on their inner healing journeys. I bring a holistic mind-body perspective, my own experiences as a second-generation Chinese-American, and, of course, humor to all of my work with clients. Read more about my approach below.
MY APPROACH
I believe that healing takes place in relationship, one that lets you fully be yourself. That means, I won't tell you what you should think or feel. Instead, I help you find your inner compass—an inner respite of calm, confidence and clarity. Through a variety of evidence-based approaches (below), we'll co-create a nurturing space that allows you to develop greater self-awareness, instill trust and compassion towards yourself, and integrate both mind and body into a whole sense of self.
INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS (IFS)
Ever feel conflicted? IFS identifies and tends to the various "parts" within oneself. Some parts may represent wounded selves and painful emotions, while other parts try to control or protect the whole "system" (that is, you!) from that pain. IFS aims to connect one with their Self (the compassionate, confident and curious whole person at the core of every person) and alleviate emotional distress and confusion by changing the relationships between Self and all parts. In IFS, all parts are welcome.
GESTALT THERAPY
This approach invites you to break out of habitual thought patterns and to get in touch with actual emotional experience—what is right here and now. This allows previously hidden or avoided emotions to come to the surface. With greater awareness of what you're going through, you have more access to acceptance, new meaning, and more choices to move forward. Only when you are present with yourself—as you are right now—can change occur.
EMDR THERAPY
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) enables people to heal from the emotional distress and negative self-limiting beliefs that resulted from disturbing life experiences (i.e., trauma). Eye movements (similar to those in REM sleep) activate the brain's information processing system, tapping into its natural healing abilities. EMDR's 8-phased approach is a more structured form of psychotherapy that doesn't require one to talk in-detail about the traumatic events themselves.
MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness is each person's natural ability to observe their thoughts and emotions in the moment with awareness and curiosity. Mindfulness skills are critical to mental well-being because they help build our capacity to ride the waves of big emotions and teach us to become more present with ourselves instead of lost in negative thoughts and emotions.
EDUCATION & TRAININGS
M.S. Marriage and Family Therapy
University of Southern California
2-Year Clinical Training
Southern California Counseling Center, a community mental health center in Los Angeles, CA
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR Consulting
Trauma Resiliency Model® (Level 1)
Trauma Resource Institute
