Michelle H. Kim (she/her)

I believe most of emotional/relational struggles are originated from original attachment that we experience in our childhood. I approach client’s attachment pain with kindness and gentleness and support clients to experience a “felt-sense” safety and acceptance in the therapeutic relationship. My passion is to foster/cultivate emotional resiliency, maturity, and growth in clients’ inner world.

I have eight years of experience working in Northeast LA with deeply traumatized children and their families in the agency context. I have been a sole practitioner since 2009, and I strive to bring the skills I built doing intense and short term trauma interventions to my private practice. It is here that I feel like I can do deep trauma work, unrestrained by insurance guidelines for short term therapy and strict standards for when to terminate treatment.

My clients with PTSD and anxiety have benefited the most from my CBT interventions. I use them when clients need to deal with emotional trauma, process grief or need help managing emotions. I use CBT because it is evidence- and, when required, it helps stuck clients find practical ways to get unstuck. When clients can identify triggering situations, their emotions/beliefs behind them, and then move on to identifying and changing their thinking, they can live peacefully.

I've treated many severely depressed people and many mildly depressed clients. I am patient and able to sit with them as well as give them hope and direct them towards helpful behaviors so they can meet their life goals rather than feel swallowed up by their depression.

Instead of pathologizing children’s emotional and behavioral problems, I enter their internal world with curiosity and openness. Highly sensitive kids are often seen as anxious and described as “needy,” “dramatic,” “inattentive,” or “insecure.” I utilize strength-based interventions and attachment-based play therapy to promote emotional intelligence and sensory regulation. I also assist parents in learning how to reflect on their own triggers and reactivity.

Anxiety and feeling overwhelmed often originate from early life experiences that made you feel unsafe and powerless. I help clients identify and restore their unmet childhood needs. Boundaries can be established, and priorities set up. You can let go of the need to rescue or control, stay resilient, and live peacefully and confidently.

People who experience early childhood trauma and neglect can come to feel that their internal and external worlds are unsafe. Self-berating and fear of outside rejection can become so chronic that they can lead people into depression. Through the lens of compassion, we will explore together how your stories were woven and how your pain was developed and collaborate to restore your heart.

Instead of pathologizing children’s emotional and behavioral problems, I enter their inner world with curiosity and openness. Children come into the world with basic emotional needs: to feel safe, empowered, joyful, belonged, and loved. I utilize strength-based interventions and attachment-based play therapy to meet emotional needs, promote emotional intelligence and sensory regulation. I also support parents in learning how to reflect on their triggers and reactivity to encourage empathy.

I believe healing comes from experiencing safe, authentic, and nurturing relationships. I am not here to fix clients or solve problems. I help my clients identify their inner child's needs and advocate to meet them through healing relationships. I use a relational approach combined with a psychodynamic awareness and support clients recover from perfectionistic tendencies, developing self-compassion toward themselves, and recovering from codependency.