In this episode, I sit down with a Korean American psychologist who reflects on vulnerable early-career moments when cultural differences shaped how she understood clients’ expressions of suicidal ideation. In her culture of origin, language about death and wanting to die was often woven into everyday speech — a nuance that initially influenced how she assessed risk in the therapy room. Together, we explore how culture shapes meaning, why suicidal language does not translate evenly across contexts, and how cross-cultural humility — not perfection — is essential to ethical and attuned clinical care.

Content Note: This episode includes discussion of suicidal ideation and may be sensitive for some listeners. Please listen with care.

Dr Jeongmi Moon

https://www.drmoon.live

New Therapist FAQ on Instagram:

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New Therapist FAQ on Facebook:

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In this episode, I sit down with a Chicago-based art therapist Elizabeth Yoo-lae Cho to explore why creative expression can unlock what words sometimes can't. She explains how she uses clients' artwork to track therapeutic progress over time in ways traditional talk therapy can't capture. We also dive into her experience as a Korean American woman whose training environment was white-dominated—navigating boundary challenges with middle-aged white men while learning to find her voice. Now working primarily with Asian American clients, she shares how she's learned to bring her full, authentic self into the room. This conversation offers both practical tools and real inspiration for new therapists.

Elizabeth Yoo-lae Cho:

⁠https://www.elizabethyoolaecho.com

New Therapist FAQ on Instagram:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/newtherapistfaq/⁠⁠⁠⁠

New Therapist FAQ on Facebook:

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In this episode, I sit down with my friend Eunhyey Lok to explore the familiar experience of feeling we're not being effective for our struggling client. It's so easy to attach our self worth to our effectiveness, isn't it? This is where the concept and reality of limits comes in full force. They may talk about it in grad school, but actually confronting it is something else. We hope you enjoy the episode and feel seen.

Eunhyey Lok's website:

https://www.eunhyeylok.com

New Therapist FAQ on Instagram:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/newtherapistfaq/⁠⁠⁠

New Therapist FAQ on Facebook:

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In this episode, I sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. John Han to explore what happens when a difficult client stirs up our own countertransference—and why choosing not to quit can become a deeply healing moment for both therapist and client.

We also discuss the fear of performance that so often pulls us out of true presence, and share honestly about the unique challenges many Korean Americans face around shame, optics, and staying emotionally authentic. This episode is an invitation to slow down, stay curious, and rediscover the courage to remain in the room when everything in you wants to step out.

Links related to John:

Psychology Today profile

drjohnjhan@gmail.com

New Therapist FAQ on Instagram:

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In this episode, I sit down with seasoned therapist Gary Quan who opens up about a professional regret from early in his career: avoiding wise counsel and letting anxiety and over-productivity drive his work. We explore how fear, isolation, and the Asian cultural pressure to perform can impact even the most well-intentioned clinicians—and what he wishes he had done differently. This candid conversation offers grounding insights for new therapists learning to build sustainable, supported careers.

Links related to Gary:

Asian American Chronicles

California Institute of Integral Studies

Christian Counseling Center

Octave

Daybreak Health

New Therapist FAQ on Instagram:

⁠https://www.instagram.com/newtherapistfaq/⁠

New Therapist FAQ on Facebook:

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Traditionally, a new therapist seeks out an office space to rent part-time from a more seasoned therapist. Sometimes we get lucky and fill our caseload quickly and all the stars align so that all our clients can see us on one particular day of the week. Sometimes we're not so lucky and we end up paying a lot more for overhead than we expected. Is there a better way?

Yes! Jen Kim, co-founder of Ethera, leveraged many of the disappointments she faced when looking for office space, and put in major work to create a collaborative co-practicing space for therapists to do their work well. She joins me for today's episode and talks about great alternatives to traditional office space. Hope you get inspired!

Ethera's website: www.myethera.com

Email: hello@myethera.com

New Therapist FAQ on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/newtherapistfaq/

New Therapist FAQ on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ntfaqpodcast

Soo Jin Lee and Linda Yoon co-wrote an EXCELLENT book called "Where I Belong: Healing Trauma and Embracing Asian American Identity." But this book didn't appear out of thin air. How did it go from idea to the shelf at Barnes and Noble?

Linda and Soo Jin saw the lack of resources written by people of color, and decided to contribute to the solution. We hope that the telling of their publishing story will inspire those of you who are thinking of writing your own book!

https://yellowchaircollective.com

Find book here

https://entwinecommunity.org/about

@newtherapistfaq

By now you may have heard about the No Surprises Act and the Good Faith Estimate. It's a law meant to protect the consumer from charges they were not expecting. It's still early in the execution stage, and I am in the process of wrapping my head around it while putting it into action in compliance with the law.

As a way of helping you also wrap your head around it, I have enlisted the help of my wife Jenn Hsu to talk with me about this new law. She is a huge proponent of mental health, and she lends some of her perspective as a prospective client, while I try to articulate to her what I understand about this new law. I hope our dialogue kickstarts your own thinking process, and perhaps further conversations as we all try to put into practice this regulation.

I only provide opinions about overviews of this law. For a deeper look into the contents of the law, you can consider viewing this 2 hour seminar:

https://www.semiprivatepractice.com/a/2147502742/YbsugoZK

It gives you a breakdown of what the law entails, as well as a good Q/A portion answered by a healthcare attorney. This is an affiliate link.

What I offer in this episode is opinion and information. It does not constitute legal advice.