They/Them/Theirs

Frances is an autistic/neurodivergent, nonbinary and queer, disabled Taiwanese and Chinese immigrant. Frances works through an integrated person centered, trauma informed, relational, and feminist framework where they meet the client where they are at and co-designs the therapeutic space with clients to allow clients to be able to bring their whole selves in. They approach therapy from the fundamental belief that mental health symptoms are 1. responses to needs not being met and are indicators of larger systemic issues such as surviving under capitalism, living through the climate crisis, and resisting genocidal systems, and 2. differences that have been pathologized by a society that places a human’s worth on their productivity. A person's healing isn't linear and cannot be done without addressing these existing power structures and institutions. Therefore, Frances works from the perspective that mental health clinicians need to be advocates for systemic change, and is consistently advocating for mental health services to be more accessible for marginalized communities.

Frances received their EdM and MA in Counseling Psychology at Teachers College Columbia University. Their previous training included working on an ACT (Assertive Community Treatment) team at the Bridge NY, where they were part of a mobile multidisciplinary treatment team that addressed clients who have fallen out of traditional mental healthcare and experience serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, etc. Frances also has a background of working in NY politics and advocacy at a social services nonprofit, where they mobilized AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander), low income, and immigrant communities to build political power.