Therapy for Filipinos & Asian-Americans
Relationship Anxiety, Cultural Expectations & Family Wounds
You've always been good at adapting.
But somewhere along the way, you lost track of yourself.
Maybe you grew up holding two worlds at once: the values, expectations, and emotional rules of your family and culture, and the very different world around you.
You learned to code-switch, to keep the peace, to be who each space needed you to be.
And it worked. Until it didn't.
This kind of experience leaves a mark.
Not because your culture is the problem. Because growing up between worlds (or entering a new one) without language for what you were carrying — quietly shapes how you see yourself, how you communicate, and how you show up in relationships.
This might sound familiar:
You feel pressure to carry the family (financially, emotionally, or both)
You struggle to set boundaries without feeling guilty afterwards
You've internalized that asking for help is a weakness, or that talking about your feelings is something people in your family don't do.
You feel like you don’t fully belong anywhere.
You love your family deeply and also feel suffocated by the expectations that come with that love
The way you were raised is showing up in your relationship — in how you communicate, how you handle conflict, and how safe you feel being fully yourself with your partner
This is the work I do because I’ve been there too
I moved here from the Philippines. I know firsthand what it's like to figure out how to relate in a new culture, how to assimilate without losing yourself, and how to hold onto the essence of being Filipino while building a life that's fully yours.
As a Filipino therapist in New York City, I'm here to understand how you grew up, the values instilled in you, and how those experiences are shaping your relationships & mental health today — without asking you to leave your culture at the door.
You won't have to explain the pressure of being the eldest. Or why utang na loob and obligations makes boundaries feel impossible. Or why your family's silence taught you to read the room instead of express yourself.
I already get it.
What our work together looks like?
We'll explore things like:
Intergenerational trauma and family patterns that are still playing out today
Cultural expectations and the pressure to perform, achieve, sacrifice, or stay silent
Life transitions — immigration, identity shifts, new chapters, new relationships
Disconnection from yourself and who you are outside of your roles and responsibilities
Relationship anxiety and anxious attachment rooted in cultural and family dynamics
Interracial relationships and navigating cultural differences with a partner
Finding your own values while still honoring where you came from
You come in feeling like you're constantly navigating: your family, your partner, your culture, yourself. Like no space's fully yours.
You leave with clarity: About why you react the way you do. About where your patterns started. About what you actually want
Clients who do this work move from:
Carrying everyone else's emotions → Setting boundaries without the guilt spiral
People-pleasing to keep the peace → Communicating their needs clearly and calmly
Feeling like they don't belong anywhere → Feeling grounded in who they actually are
Repeating family patterns in their relationships → Building something that finally feels different