Katherine Chan, LMFT
Online Therapy for Anxiety, Trauma, and Personal Growth in California
Hi, I’m Kat. It’s nice to meet you.
I believe meaningful therapy begins with genuine human conversations. It’s a space where you can exhale, be fully yourself, and feel met with both warmth and honesty. Whether you’re navigating anxiety that keeps you from showing up as your full self or making sense of life as a Highly Sensitive Person, therapy with me becomes a space where you can step into life with greater ease and possibility.
How I Came to This Work
Before becoming a therapist, I worked in the corporate world for several years, often feeling out of place and smaller than I knew myself to be. Over time, the pull toward something more meaningful and aligned with who I was becoming became impossible to ignore. During that period, I began my own process of self-discovery: learning to trust my instincts, embrace parts of myself I had learned to minimize, and move toward work and relationships that felt more genuine and alive. This eventually led me to become a yoga teacher and mindfulness meditation facilitator, where I witnessed firsthand how awareness, presence, and compassion can open the door to profound change. That experience ultimately guided me toward becoming a therapist, a role that allows me to support others as they step more fully into their own lives with greater clarity, freedom, and joy.
As a second-generation Chinese American raised in an immigrant family, I understand the complexity of navigating identity, expectations, and belonging across different cultural worlds. Many of the questions I explored in my own life continue to inform how I show up in this work today, and I feel especially connected to supporting Asian American clients and others creating lives that feel genuinely their own.
What It’s Like to Work With Me
My path to becoming a therapist began long before I formally entered the field. Like many people who eventually find their way to this work, I first experienced therapy from the client’s side of the room. Working through my own anxiety and past experiences gave me a firsthand understanding of how powerful it can be to have a space where you feel truly seen, understood, and supported as real change begins to take shape.
I believe true healing happens in a space where you can fully be yourself, free from judgment. That’s what my therapy room feels like. I won’t tell you how to think or feel. Instead, my approach is always anchored by warmth, honesty, and kindness. This healing journey is about connecting you with your inner compass while also helping you identify the blind spots that are keeping you stuck. Together, we’ll explore your life challenges with openness—and even humor—because life itself is wild and unpredictable. Therapy here is a nurturing space that fosters self-trust, compassion, clarity, and the ability to break free from old patterns, paving the way for a more vibrant, fulfilling life.
My approach is…
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I believe that understanding and compassion in therapy allows people to open up and talk about hard things without being held back by worry.
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Trauma is the lasting impact of difficult experiences that you've been through. Our work together will be mindful and sensitive to that so you can begin to finally heal.
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I don't treat therapy sessions like a clinical doctor's appointment. Instead, we'll skip the psychology jargon and get to know you and your situation like real human beings.
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I get that you're here to create real change so I’m not the type of therapist who just sits back, listens, and nods. Together, we’ll actively collaborate to help you gain clarity, feel empowered, and take meaningful steps forward.
The Kinds of Work We Might Do
Internal Family Systems (IFS)Helps the parts of you that learned to work overtime feel seen, supported, and finally safe enough to not have to
Somatic TherapyHelps you get out of your head and into your body so patterns can actually shift, not just make sense intellectually
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)Helps your brain finally process the stuff you know is over… but your body clearly isn’t.
Gestalt TherapyBrings your patterns into the room in real time, so we can actually work with them as they happen
Culturally-Sensitive Therapy and Family SystemsMakes space for the family and cultural dynamics that shaped you, so you can keep what fits and question what doesn’t
Mindfulness, Existential and Buddhist PhilosophiesHelps you step back from the noise of your mind and get clearer on what actually matters to you
Outside of the Therapy Room
I’m someone who’s still figuring out how to slow down. Lately, that’s looked like embracing my inner artist by learning watercolor painting, spending time with my dog at the beach, and letting things be a little less “productive” and a little more enjoyable.
That process of softening, recalibrating, and making space for more ease is something I understand not just professionally, but personally too.
If you’re curious about working together, we can start there. You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Let’s connect!
I offer a free consultation to see if this feels like a good fit.