Dr. Josephine Chu has an international education and lived experiences in Malaysia, England, and the U.S., which positions her to offer excellent care, cultural humility, and flexible adaptation of her treatment approach based on clients’ wellness needs. She has over 12 years’ experience treating individuals and families navigating mental health and relationship difficulties. She currently specializes in OCD and related anxiety concerns (e.g., social anxiety, phobia, perfectionism), family conflicts (e.g., relationship repair, acculturation differences, immigration stress), interpersonal relationship issues, and parenting consultation. She also has plenty of experiences supporting individuals managing impacts of ADHD on relationships, LGBTQ+ communities, and those in trauma recovery. In terms of treatment approaches, Dr. Chu typically uses a relational-cultural approach that is trauma-informed, while integrating elements of various evidence-based modalities she has training in. These include ACT, CBT, DBT, and IFS. She has specialized training in ERP, the gold standard approach to treat OCD, and is also trained in I-CBT, a newer approach found to be effective. As a therapist, she believes in being authentic in sessions and being unafraid to be direct about difficult topics, while also using humor as appropriate. Clients have described her as warm and genuine, bringing a calming presence, and willing to push them when necessary.

I believe as humans, we are all flawed in some ways, and we’re all doing our best. With that in mind, self-compassion becomes so important for us to learn from our past, take good care of ourselves, and empower us as we step into our future. I also believe in balance, whether that’s balancing our needs vs. others’, our rationality vs. our emotions, our individual values vs. our family values, or even our own conflicting desires. I provide affirming services to the LGBTQ+ community and I’m passionate about serving my fellow BIPOC communities. I don’t shy away from difficult conversations when different backgrounds or identities between myself and my clients are relevant in therapy sessions. I also have specialized skills in treating OCD and related anxiety, so whether this is your first time trying to find an OCD therapist, or you’ve had OCD treatment that hasn’t worked, or the OCD symptoms are intersecting with other mental health symptoms, creating more complexities, I’d be happy to chat with you to see if I’m the right person to help. I approach each session seriously and with great care as I help clients open up, slow down, examine what’s getting in the way of their happiness, and reflect on how they’d like their life to change. Clients usually start to feel comfortable fairly quickly, and begin to see real improvements in their lives within the first month of our work together.