Hi. This website is mainly a place for me to share what I’m learning about therapy, trauma, and the practice of presence. Some of what I write is for therapists and some is for the people who sit across from us, though we’re all walking the same path and working on the same stuff. I hope you find something of value…
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Today's Touching Training
I led a training for a group of dedicated people who work with the most difficult adolescents in the city--the teens who run, cut, spit, and fight.
Today's Touching Moment
Snippet of a therapy session with an awesome mom rooting for her child overwhelmed by anxiety.
My Patient's Lovely Description of Our Therapy
It's like you hold up a mirror and I really don’t want to look into it because I think I am so ugly, but deep inside I wish I were cute and pretty (she tears up). But, you keep holding up the mirror and show me that I just have some dirt on my face and you help me brush it off. Then I begin to realize that maybe I’m not so ugly...
Curbside Supervision
a brief snippet of supervision on how to talk to an angry then remorseful patient
Helping my Interns Sit in Mystery
This is how I tried to teach my interns how to sit in the mystery of therapy.
Keeping My Heart Trembling
In my own work nowadays, I'm constantly aware of how much my heart aches with each person I see.
What a day
Four stories of sexual assault crash on top of each other, like a four-car pile up.
Podcast: Korean American Story with KRB 87.7
Listen to a podcast about my work on a Korean radio show. I answer questions about historical trauma and its impact on the Korean psyche and child-rearing.
Featured in a New Commercial for Mount Sinai's Child Behavioral Health And Science Center
Watch a new commercial for the Child Psychiatry division at Mount Sinai Health System that features the work of my Center.
Training Video Redux: Motivating Others with Compassion
This is a redo of a training video on using compassion to motivate others.
Loss and Love
I work with a group of advocates who champion the cause of encouraging adoption of transition age youth. They go around the city talking to youth about holding on to the hope for unconditional family love and commitment, and they recruit parents to fulfill those dreams.
They hurt today when one young man in the audience despaired, “fuck family!”
Wonderment post Trauma
, a patient of mine comes out from under the dense fog of childhood trauma
Cardozo Lecture Video Remastered
Ok, I wasted the weekend editing the Cardozo lecture so people can actually see the video and my talk at the same time. And I shrank it down to 35 minutes! I hope you enjoy it. I think it's kinda funny yet educational. After this talk, the NYC Dept of Education asked me to helped them improve youth development and school safety.
