Therapy for Asian-Americans/AAPI in NYC
Therapy for Asian-Americans/AAPI in NYC
Virtual therapy for AAPI, Immigrants & International Students
across New York and New Jersey
Someone who understands the cultural nuances that shape how you think, feel, and relate to others.
As an Asian American therapist in New York, I work with adults who are balancing different worlds, carrying expectations, and trying to make sense of who they are outside of who they’ve had to be.
In one room you're too much. In another you're not enough. You've learned to read the space, adjust and code switch so seamlessly that it looks effortless from the outside. But it takes something from you every time.
There’s a version of you underneath it all that hasn't had much space to just... exist. If this feels familiar, you're not alone.
Living between worlds is its own kind of weight, and you've been carrying it for a long time
Therapy for Asian-Americans/AAPI in NYC is exactly what you’re looking for if you want…
Growing Up Between Cultures: Identity, Belonging, and Family Expectations
Growing up between cultures can mean learning to meet others’ expectations while keeping your own needs quiet. In adulthood, this might look like:
Hypervigilance: always reading the room and anticipating others’ reactions
People-pleasing: putting others first, even when you’re stretched thin
Hyperindependence: feeling you have to handle everything alone
Uncertainty about what you want: struggling to separate your wishes from family expectations
Feeling out of place: never quite belonging, despite the life you’ve built
Therapy for Asian Americans in NYC offers space to explore these patterns, work through anxiety and family guilt, and build a stronger sense of self.
Together, we can explore how to honor your cultural roots while making room for your own needs, boundaries, and choices. You don’t have to have it all figured out to begin.
Does this feel familiar?
Feeling “too American” at home and “not American enough” everywhere else
Feeling you owe your family success because of everything they sacrificed
Wanting to say no, but worrying that boundaries make you selfish or ungrateful
Changing how you speak, act, or express yourself depending on who’s in the room
Being the dependable one while struggling to ask for support yourself
Missing people, places, or versions of home—and feeling unsure where you belong
How Therapy for Asian-Americans in NYC Can Help…
Together, we’ll:
Make space for every part of your identity, without having to prove you belong
Explore what you want beyond achievement, obligation, and others’ expectations
Practice boundaries that make room for both connection and your own needs
Reconnect with your voice after years of adapting to others
Learn to receive support without feeling you’ve failed
Give your grief room and explore what home and belonging mean to you
Why Work with an
Asian-American Therapist in NYC
You may want a therapist who understands why setting a boundary can feel like disrespect, or why choosing your own path can bring guilt alongside relief.
As an Asian American therapist in NYC, I bring cultural awareness and curiosity to our work. Your family relationships, immigration story, and experiences of racism and belonging deserve space in therapy. Shared background can offer a starting point, but your story is yours to tell.
In our work together, we will:
Explore family expectations while making room for both your relationships and your own needs
Unpack model minority pressure, perfectionism, and the feeling that your worth depends on achievement
Navigate cultural identity and belonging, including the parts of yourself you feel pressured to hide
Hold complicated feelings together, including gratitude, love, grief, and resentment
Naming your experience in Cantonese or Mandarin when English doesn’t fully capture what you mean
If any of this sounds like you…
you're probably someone who gives more than you receive, feels more than you show,
and expects more from yourself than you'd ever ask of anyone else.
You've spent your life trying to be enough for everyone else.
Now it's time to be enough for you.
Hi, I’m Mandy,
your AAPI Therapist in NYC
I'm an Asian psychotherapist and board-certified music therapist based in New York City. I was born in Hong Kong, raised in Canada, and have built my life and practice here in New York. As an immigrant and former international student, I know what it's like to move between cultural worlds, to absorb expectations that were never spoken aloud, and to feel the quiet weight of not quite belonging anywhere fully.
That experience shapes how I work. I'm a firm believer that we come to know ourselves through relationships: what we've experienced, witnessed, and learned in connection with others. Anxiety, burnout, and overextending ourselves often develop in these spaces too, shaped by moments of rupture, misattunement, or unmet needs. When that happens, repair often needs to be felt in relationship, too.
I offer sessions in English, Cantonese, and conversational Mandarin, because some things don't translate cleanly, and you shouldn't have to force them to.
How Does Therapy for Asian-Americans/AAPI in NYC Work?
STEP 01.
We start by making room for your story
Whether it’s family pressure, anxiety, belonging, or something harder to name. There’s space for the different cultures you carry, without pressure to fit neatly into any one identity.
STEP 02.
Explore what you learned to carry
We look at how family expectations, immigration experiences, and cultural messages have shaped you. Together, we explore patterns like equating success with worth, keeping the peace, or feeling responsible for everyone else.
STEP 03.
Define what matters to you
We practice expressing your needs, setting boundaries, and making choices that reflect your values. You can decide which traditions to carry forward and how to honor your relationships while making room for yourself.
Frequently Asked
Questions
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Yes. I’m an Asian American therapist offering online therapy for adults in NYC and throughout New York and New Jersey. I support Asian American, immigrant, and bicultural clients navigating anxiety, burnout, family expectations, and questions of identity and belonging. Sessions take place through a secure telehealth platform.
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Working with a therapist who shares aspects of your cultural background may make it easier to talk about family obligation, pressure to succeed, or feeling caught between cultures. I bring cultural awareness to our sessions while taking time to understand your individual experience. We can explore how culture shapes your life without assuming it explains everything about you.
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Yes, we will explore the anxiety and guilt that come with disappointing family, choosing a different path, or feeling responsible for everyone else. Together, we work on expressing your needs and setting boundaries in ways that reflect your values. There’s room to love and appreciate your family for the sacrifices they’ve made, while also acknowledging what has been difficult.
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Yes, as a 1.5 gen immigrant and former international student myself, I work with immigrant and bicultural adults, including adults who grew up as third culture kids. You might feel at home in several cultures yet fully understood in none, or find yourself constantly adapting to others’ expectations. Therapy offers space to explore belonging, grief, and identity; and decide what you want to carry forward.
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Yes, I speak conversational Mandarin and am fluent in Cantonese.
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No. I welcome adults from all cultural backgrounds. Alongside my focus on Asian American and immigrant experiences, I work with people navigating anxiety, burnout, relationships, trauma and hyper-independence. You also don’t need to make culture the focus of therapy; we start with what matters to you.
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You can book a free consultation to share what you’re looking for, ask questions about my approach, and explore whether we’re a good fit. You don’t need to have a clear explanation of what’s wrong or know exactly what to say. We can start with what has felt difficult and what you hope might change.
Reach Out &
Schedule a Consultation Call Today
I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Therapy for Asian-Americans &in NYC and across New York & New Jersey
Mindful Roots Collective offers therapy for Asian-Americans, immigrants, and international students across New York City, including Midtown, Tribeca, and Long Island City (Queens). Sessions are available via secure telehealth platform for residents of New York and New Jersey, including clients in Jersey City, Hoboken, Fort Lee, Palisades Park, Englewood, Tenafly, Edgewater, and across Bergen County, NJ
The experiences that bring people here rarely fit neatly into a single category. The pressure to perform. The exhaustion of never quite feeling like enough. The anxiety that hums quietly beneath a life that looks fine on the outside. These patterns show up across cultures, but they carry a particular weight when you're also holding questions of identity, belonging, and what you owe the people who sacrificed everything to get you here.
This work lives at the intersection of culture and anxiety.
If that resonates, you can read more about how I approach anxiety therapy here.
When you're ready, I'm here.