Our Story
A Practice Rooted in Care, Culture, and Connection
At the heart of Dear Therapy® is “self-love”, a space for gentle discovery and deep care. Dear Therapy® was founded at the height of the pandemic and the rise of the Anti-Asian Hate movement. It was during this intensified tension of social unrest and the growing need for mental wellness spaces that Dear Therapy® adapted its name and slogan – “Come As You Are, Hold Yourself DEAR” – a fierce commitment to self-love at the ever-evolving intersection of individualism and collectivism.
Unlike the traditional medical model of therapy, we believe therapy is a safe place where you return to yourself, one step, one story, one breath at a time.
Rooted in anti-oppressive, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed care, we honor the complex ways that identity, community, and history shape how we move through the world.
Whether you are navigating grief, migration, family rupture, or questions of self, you do not have to explain everything here. We meet you with curiosity and care.
Come As You Are
Your story matters, and so does the way you choose to tell it.
At Dear Therapy®, we create space for the parts of you that haven’t always felt welcomed. Whether you’re navigating complex identities, intergenerational tensions, or quiet griefs that words barely hold, we meet you with curiosity, unwavering support and affirmation.
We are a team of BIPOC and AAPI clinicians who care deeply about mental health that honors culture, language, and lived experience. Our approach is collaborative, relational, and grounded in social justice. You do not have to perform, explain, or minimize. You can just come as you are.
If you're shuffling between individualism of the west and collectivism of the east, there's a sweet spot for self-love often misunderstood as self-fishness. We see you. You can have the best of both worlds and still honor your lived experiences.
Hold Yourself Dear
Healing is not a destination. It's a daily act of returning to yourself to practice committed, grounded self-love.
At Dear Therapy®, “hold yourself dear” is both an invitation and a practice. We believe in care that is unhurried, relational, and rooted in dignity.
Coming as you are, with your tenderness, your mess, your questions, is enough.
What D.E.A.R. Means to Us
Our name is also a quiet call inward, a reminder of what healing can hold. These values shape how we hold space, how we witness, and how we walk alongside you.
Diligent decision
Emotional expression
Artistic articulation
Rejuvenating reflection
Our name was inspired by the intimacy of journaling - Dear Diary - by the letters we write to our past and future selves, and by the quiet hope that healing brings. Like a journal entry or a deep breath, our work unfolds one page at a time…