Online in California
(Online Only)
You may have spent much of your life being the responsible one—balancing family expectations, caring for others, and striving to succeed while your own emotional needs went unseen. From the outside, your life may look accomplished, but inside you might feel exhausted, overwhelmed, or quietly alone. You learned early on to prioritize everyone else’s well-being, often leaving little room to understand or care for yourself.
Client Focus
Session Format: Individual sessions.
Age Specialty: Adult
Demographic Expertise: Asian, Women clients.
Languages: English and Cantonese (conversational)
Treatment Approach
- Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) Helps people accept difficult thoughts and feelings instead of fighting them, while committing to actions that reflect their values. It blends mindfulness with practical behavior strategies.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) One of the most widely used approaches, CBT helps people identify unhelpful thoughts and replace them with healthier patterns. It is effective for anxiety, depression, and many other concerns.
- Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) Builds skills in self-kindness and compassion toward others. It is especially helpful for people who struggle with shame or self-criticism.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Combines CBT with mindfulness to help regulate emotions, tolerate stress, and build stronger relationships. Originally designed for borderline personality disorder, it’s now used more broadly.
- Existential / Humanistic Therapy Encourages people to explore meaning, freedom, and authenticity in their lives. It focuses on personal growth and living in alignment with one’s values.
- Family Systems Therapy Looks at problems within the context of the family as a whole. It aims to improve communication and balance in family relationships.
- Feminist Therapy Addresses how gender roles, power, and social inequality affect mental health. It empowers clients to challenge limiting beliefs and systems.
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) A short-term approach focused on improving relationships and social support. It is often used for depression and grief.
- Multicultural Therapy Acknowledges the role of culture, race, and identity in mental health. It values diversity and adapts treatment to each person’s background.
- Narrative Therapy Encourages people to view problems as separate from themselves and reframe their life story. It helps build resilience and self-identity.
- Person-Centered Therapy (Rogerian) Emphasizes empathy, unconditional positive regard, and authenticity. It provides a safe space for self-discovery and growth.
- Psychodynamic Therapy Explores unconscious thoughts and patterns that influence current behavior. It builds insight into how the past impacts the present.
Approach Description: You matter and I am here to support you as you learn to safely express your feelings and needs. Your inner child is waiting for you to understand, embrace, and heal your wounds. You no longer have to repress, ignore, minimize, and invalidate your suffering. Together we can work on understanding the impact of family and generational trauma, unlearn unhealthy patterns, reduce unrealistic expectations, set boundaries, and increase your self-compassion/self-care.
Fees & Insurance
Fees
- Average Session Fee 270
- Affordable sliding scale therapy: apply if you may be eligible.
- I believe therapy should be accessible especially with how challenging these recent years have been. I am happy to offer sliding scale if we both decide we are a good fit. We can discuss together what sliding scale rate (for example 20-25% off my current rate) that is sustainable for both of us.
- Out of Network
- Can provide superbill upon request that you can submit to your insurance for reimbursement.
Education & Credentials
Susanna La Ph.D.
- Female
- License # PSY32480
- Licensed in CA
- Practicing Since 2013
Susanna La Practice Details
Therapy Sessions
- Available Online for residents of California
- Online Therapy Details: Telehealth through Simple Practice platform
You may be the responsible one in your family—the one who works hard, achieves, and takes care of everyone else. But underneath the success, you might feel exhausted, overwhelmed, or quietly alone.
Many of the people I work with are highly sensitive, high-achieving adult children who grew up being parentified or emotionally overlooked. You may have learned early on to prioritize family expectations, suppress your feelings, and hold yourself to extremely high standards. Over time, this can lead to burnout, anxiety, people-pleasing, perfectionism, and difficulty knowing what you truly need.
In therapy, we explore how cultural expectations, family roles, and generational trauma have shaped your inner world. Together we work toward unlearning painful patterns, developing healthier boundaries, and cultivating self-compassion. Therapy can be a space where you finally feel permission to slow down, understand your emotions, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that had to stay quiet.
As an Asian American woman and a “work in progress” people-pleaser, I bring warmth, authenticity, and cultural understanding to our work together. My goal is to support you in creating a life that feels more balanced, meaningful, and aligned with who you truly are.