Meet Jessica Tang of Jessica Tang, Marriage and Family Therapist

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Tang

Hi Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my journey without a clear vision of my life path, but I am certain that my upbringing as a cross-cultural kid significantly helped shape my career. At times, I struggled to reconcile my identities, feeling torn between my Vietnamese and American cultures. This confusion piqued my interest in the human mind, but familial and societal expectations led me to explore other various academic fields. After realizing these pursuits didn’t resonate with me, I returned to my long-time interest and graduated with a degree in Psychology.

After college, I worked in early childhood education as a preschool teacher where I met several therapists who inspired me to pursue a higher degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. They demonstrated how psychology could improve young children’s lives through early and preventative interventions. This experience laid a solid foundation for my career and prompted my transition from education to the clinical space, where I began working with young children and their families.

As my career matured, I progressed through life’s stages by also working with adolescents and adults. Today, I help people of all ages with a wide range of issues, including depression, anxiety, and relationship challenges with family, friends, colleagues, and romantic partners. In addition to my practice, I serve as the Clinical Director of the Self Injury Institute, Vice President of the Caldwell Family Institute, and Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University.

Looking back, my journey has been a blend of risk-taking, learning, perseverance, and drive. Every experience has contributed to the success I have today. I remain committed to helping others feel more confident in navigating their lives, and I am excited for the future and the possibilities it holds.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has been anything but smooth. Like many, I’ve faced my share of professional struggles and challenges, including feeling unsure of my career, keeping up with the demands of my work, and continuously growing within my profession while balancing and nourishing my personal life.

Being Asian-American in a predominantly White field presented specific challenges in terms of cultural representation and communication.

The stigma of seeking mental health services is still very prevalent in Asian-American and other non-White communities. Even my own parents were initially distressed by my choice of profession. However, I shared with them how therapy can reunite friends, romantic partners, and family members, help people develop personally and professionally, and provide tools for facing adversity. Over time, this allowed my parents to warm up to the idea of therapy and eventually be proud of what I do.

In my work, I often felt the need to prove myself and bridge cultural gaps with clients and colleagues by incorporating non-White perspectives into traditionally White-centric therapies. Additionally, the stereotype that Asian Americans lack leadership qualities was a notion I frequently faced but worked hard to disprove. As a result, I have developed a strong voice over the years, allowing me to become a leader in various settings as a clinician, administrator, and educator.

Despite these challenges, I’ve used them as opportunities for growth, offering a unique perspective and advocating for diversity and inclusion in mental health care.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My practice is dedicated to providing quality mental health services to individuals and families. I specialize in various therapeutic approaches that are tailored to meet my clients’ unique needs. They include family systems therapy, improving family dynamics and interactions; Gestalt therapy, enhancing self-awareness and responsibility; cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), changing negative thought patterns and behavior; and multicultural counseling, ensuring therapy is respectful and relevant to diverse cultural backgrounds.

In my practice, I am proud of how I integrate family and multicultural perspectives, ensuring clients’ unique relationships and cultural backgrounds are considered and honored for truly personalized care. I am passionate about continuous learning and regularly update myself with the latest mental health research to provide the most effective guidance. Lastly, I work hard to create a welcoming, inclusive environment where clients feel comfortable expressing themselves and are supportively challenged to reach their goals.

Whether you are dealing with a specific issue or seeking to improve your overall mental health, I am here to provide guidance every step of the way. My services are designed to meet you where you are and help you get to where you want to be.

How do you think about luck?
When I was a teenager, I had my first panic attack and ended up in a school counselor’s office. I felt immense pressure to be perfect as both a student and a daughter, and the weight of that pressure came down in the middle of a calculus test. Unfortunately for me, I had some pretty bad luck that day and ended up with a counselor who was dismissive of my issues, provided impractical advice, and sent me on my way. This earlier experience made me actively think about how the human mind, particularly my own, works. Once I found my way to being a therapist, this incident also inspired me to provide better therapy than the therapy I received.

There have also been moments of good luck where unexpected opportunities arose in my life. These fortunate occurrences have often been the result of being in the right place at the right time and encountering individuals who provided valuable support and guidance. By chance, I randomly selected a graduate course where my professor eventually became my mentor. I remember my graduate hooding ceremony where she leaned over and asked if I’d like to work with her in helping families. Her mentorship has had a profound impact on my career and achievement, and I still work with her today.

One of my clients often quotes from the Roman philosopher, Seneca: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,” which is a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with and hope to help my clients seize.

Pricing:

• Individual Therapy – $350-200
• Family Therapy – $400-250

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tangtherapy.com

Image Credits
Jessica Tang