Sonya (Xiangya) Gao

LPC

Coming from an immigrant background, I appreciate and value each individual’s unique background, circumstances, challenges, beliefs and lifestyles. I respect individual’s right to make their life decisions based on the information they receive. Each client is the expert of their own life and due to circumstances and life challenges, we can become confused and doubt our strengths and resources. By empowering my clients and utilizing critical thinking ability, my client and I can work together to challenge irrational thoughts, negative behavioral patterns and explore solutions that fit each individual’s uniqueness.

I value and appreciate the dynamic and the “dance” between each individual in a system. Each individual lives in a system from a micro to a macro level. From a one-on-one relationship to a relationship with the society. The system we are in can bring us support, resources, love, and make us feel safe. Unfortunately, it can also cause negative emotional distress when the “dance” is off balance. Over-emphasis on others’ opinions and judgements are one of the themes I notice with many of my clients. Because of their external locus of control thinking patterns, clients often feel on the fringe of the group, resulting in feelings of powerlessness, devaluation, neglect, and isolation. These negative feelings then lead to further relationship issues and mental illness, most commonly anxiety and depression. I find that empowering clients and helping them to make peace of their uniqueness, their values, and their beliefs, helps them understand the differences between interpersonal and intrapersonal issues and can help them acquire mental harmony and live a more fulfilled life.

The book I will definitely recommend is Victor Frankle’s Man’s Search for Meaning. The book demonstrates the power of our perspective, our inner strength and the value of each individual’s existence. Using Dr. Frankle’s own words to summarize this book, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”