I was born and raised in China and came to the U.S. at age 14.  I graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in Sociology.  After college, I moved to New York City and worked as a crisis counselor for crime victims.  In 1998, I obtained my Masters Degree in Social Work with a concentration in mental health from the University of Michigan.  I completed my clinical internship at the University of Michigan Medical Center Department of Psychiatry providing outpatient therapy for students and community members in Ann Arbor.

After graduate school, I moved to San Francisco.  I worked for three and a half years at the University of California San Francisco Department of Psychiatry providing intensive outpatient therapy and case management services.  For the next four years, I worked as a therapist at a geriatric mental health center for the City and County of San Francisco Department of Public Health. I obtained my license in clinical social work (LCSW) in the State of California in 2002.  During the summer of 2006, I moved back to Grinnell and began working as a therapist for the Poweshiek County Mental Health Center.  As a part of my duties, I provided counseling for Grinnell College students, both on campus and at the Mental Health Center.  I have been in full-time private practice in Grinnell since June of 2008.  I am a Licensed Independent Social Worker in the State of Iowa.