Welcome!

My name is Stephanie Lee, and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in the Bay Area. I am a 2nd generation Korean-Chinese American from small town USA. Growing up as a token minority, I had to work extra hard to observe the social behaviors of people around me to figure out how to adapt and fit in. While this served as a survival mechanism initially, I became fascinated by how our social environments impact the way we see ourselves, the way we understand others, and the ways in which we interact with the world. This fascination fueled my intellectual pursuits around Psychology, Psychotherapy, Existential Philosophy, American History, Feminism, and Racial Inequality, as well as my personal journey of self-understanding.

As a goal-oriented woman with a lot of ideas, dreams, and aspirations, applying what I have learned academically with the work I have done in my own therapy has opened my eyes to see how limited I was in my ability to effectively pursue my goals when I was dragging a locked up box of mysterious and ever growing baggage around with me wherever I went. While my repression and neglect of difficult thoughts and emotions got me through the stress of university life (and the stress of paying off all the loans afterwards), it prevented me from effectively doing the work I had spent all my time training and preparing for. While my work was “good enough,” I wasn’t making the level of impact that I knew I was capable of. I struggled with back pain, chronic fatigue, masked insecurity, and emotional instability. Once I started acknowledging and engaging with my emotions, becoming aware of my critical inner voice, and learning about how my experiences as a woman of color have shaped my judgments and perceptions of myself, I learned how to have compassion for myself and embrace who I am. My work with clients became more authentic, my personal relationships more intimate, and my creativity and zeal for life was rejuvenated.

This is why I am passionate about supporting my fellow women of color through my work. In a world that hasn’t always acknowledged our worth or appreciated our voice, I believe that we have so much value to offer. I want to be a part of undoing the negative messages we have received about our self-worth, empowering women of color–straight, queer, or trans–to heal the ways they relate to themselves so that they can have meaningful relationships with others and live a holistic life of personal and professional fulfillment.

”Once we recognize what it is we are feeling, once we recognize we can feel deeply, love deeply, can feel joy, then we will demand that all parts of our lives produce that kind of joy.” – Audre Lorde