Hello there, I’m Amanda.
English pronouns: they/any | Vietnamese pronouns: em/chị/anh/chanh
My own lived experiences with cycles of trauma and healing bring me to this work. I was the first person in my family to break the silence shrouding mental health, seeing my first therapist as a junior in high school after years of feeling exhausted, suicidal, and profoundly alone. There very gradually emerged a sense of spaciousness and possibility, skeptical curiosity about what might happen next, and the earliest buds of self-awareness.
I tend a slow, lifelong practice of composting grief and Madness into collective possibility. I offer presence, companionship, stories, and questions, passing along wisdom that sustains me in the hopes that it may serve you and your loved ones well.
Image description: Amanda looks off towards their right with a slight smile, illuminated from behind by golden sunlight. They have long dark hair and are wearing a white jumpsuit and dangling earrings. Behind them is a lush green garden.
All photos except headshots were taken by me.
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I hold multiply marginalized identities: I’m neurodivergent, agender, disabled, and queer; a femme-presenting person of color; and a child of forcibly displaced people. I have lived experiences of chronic illness, mental illness/Madness, complex trauma, chronic suicidality, and psychiatric incarceration. I’m also multiply privileged, including but not limited to being young, light-skinned, thin, and cisgender-passing.
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Santa Clara University
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology
Bachelor of Science in PsychologyGenesis Healing Institute
Liberation Academy: Decolonizing Mental Health
Lifeforce ConferenceMultidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
MDMA-Assisted PsychotherapyCompassionate Inquiry with Gabor Maté, self study
Institute of the Development of Human Arts (IDHA)
Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum -
Project LETS
Mental Health Liberation
Little Tokyo Service Center: Changing Tides Stream
Asian Mental Health Collective: Lotus Therapy Fund -
My wholehearted gratitude to Dr. Ling Lam, Terry Quatman, Kate Bartenhagen, Stephanie Yuen, Anna Paganelli, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Brenda Salgado, Dr. Gabor Maté, Linda Thai, Dr. Jennifer Mullan, Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu, Irvin Yalom, Mia Mingus, elders, ancestors, and comrades in Disability Justice and Healing Justice, and our non-human neighbors and beloved bodies of water.