Joseph Huang

What was your path to becoming a therapist?

In most time of my life, my role has been “student”. Flimsy as it sounds, my path to becoming a therapist does originate from my student career. As a normal student in China, I studied hard in order to achieve good scores. Academic performance means rewards, respect, and dignity. The issue is, I was not born to be a perfect student. I couldn’t concentrate on learning tasks for hours. I also couldn’t force myself to get obsessed with knowledge that doesn’t attract me. What I need are rewards, respect, and dignity that brought by the result. But learning for exams and competitions isn’t what I ultimately want to do in my life.

Then I made attempts. During undergraduate, I majored in Applied Psychology and also took courses of Physics, Human Resource Management and even Metaphysics. I participated in college performance activities and various social practice activities. I ran a personal blog and write a variety of articles. I tried to learn photography, composing music and creating videos. You might get surprised by my finding. I found that I may not be born to do anything. In other words, I am not outstanding in any field. More importantly, there is nothing I could fully enjoy. It is just a fantasy to have a career that perfectly matches my hobby, personality, and ability.

But what made me here? In my futile attempts to achieve something, I found meanings of simply living. I begin to value things that I used to neglect, which is nearly everything. Free breath, gentle breeze, conversations with friends and family, a brand new self-made dish...... My value is not determined by the world, but the world’s value is determined by me. When I tried to seek something, I couldn’t enjoy anything. But when I stop chasing, I become able to enjoy many things. This shift is incredible.

I became a therapist partly because I experienced the pain of nothingness, though you may not see in this segment. These paragraphs couldn’t note down everything I’ve been through. In fact, it was really tough. It is a result of environment, relationship dynamics and individual traits. Everyone’s pain varies, but they do exist. I’m so grateful to all the forces that helped me out, thus I feel it valuable to become such a force.

What should someone know about working with you?

The primary counseling techniques I utilize are derived from humanistic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), existential therapy, and narrative therapy. Within CBT, I have also studied Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). In counseling, I prioritize using techniques that I’m most familiar with. During our collaboration, I will adjust my approach based on the specific circumstances. If clients have knowledge and preferences regarding different approaches and techniques, we can discuss them at any point. At the beginning of counseling, I focus on building our relationship and forming mutual understanding to lay a solid foundation for deeper discussions and long-term counseling. However, if a client faces more urgent issues, we will need to focus more on short-term counseling goals.

Who are your ideal clients?

The core is that you trust that we can make our time meaningful. If you have a goal but found it difficult to approach, we can work together to make some meaningful attempts. Action comes before outcome. Thus action will be our primary goal. If you don’t have a clear goal and are feeling painful, I will be present to feel your pain together. In either case, expression, connection, and reflection will be valued.

Are there any aspects of your personal self, therapeutic approach, or your viewpoints on therapy and life that might carry a subtle edge, be slightly controversial, or challenge norms?

Your strengths come from yourself. The key to your answer is in your pocket, not mine. In the counseling, I as the therapist may say words like mottoes. They derive from professional knowledge or my personal philosophy, and they will sound reasonable and strong. For example, “Failure doesn’t stop you from trying, fear does”. However, these mottoes are helpful only when you can resonate with them. Thus, I am not a monk who teaches and answers questions. My role is to be present, to witness, observe, and understand who you are. I am here to foster an environment where you can shed stress and cultivate the strengths that you possess, even if they remain unrecognized by you. When I am able to say something powerful, that means we are very close and you already realized your strengths. Lastly, with all that said, I’m not a passive listener, but a companion who actively collaborates with you to form such environment.