therapist in SEATTLE, PORTLAND, and new york

Mental health therapy for high-achieving ASIAN & ASIAN AMERICAN PROFESSIONALS

Therapy that understand the weight of the acheivement and the invisible pressures that shape it.

Burn out recovery

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Release & Renewal

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Burn out recovery ◇ Release & Renewal ◇

“I always held it together. I didn’t know how HEAVY it was until someone named it with me.”

— a client reflection

Do these feel familiar?

  • The urgency of work follows you into your nights, dreams, or time with loved ones.

  • You realize you’re unsure who you are outside of work, achievement, or family roles.

  • You wonder if you can get back there.

Close-up of peach-colored paper with a folded edge creating a shadow and line.
A minimalistic black and white photograph of dry, leafless branches against a plain background.

What you’re carrying might look like this.

Every journey is unique. These are just a few of the patterns I often see.

A person's hand reaching up through tall, flowering plants with a blue sky in the background.
Person holding large monstera leaves partially covering their face, with only eye and lips visible, against a plain yellow background.

How we start, and what becomes possible

There’s a cost to carrying everything. Therapy can help you imagine other ways to move.

  • You have held it together for work, for family, and for your community. But beneath the surface, you may feel numb, irritable, or like you are moving through life on autopilot.

    Work keeps you up at night. Your body holds a tension it cannot release.

    You miss feeling alive.

  • You do not have to keep pushing just because you were taught to endure.

    This is a space to slow down and notice what has been buried beneath the striving. To explore new ways of moving that are rooted in your own values, not just what was handed down.

    Here, you do not have to be productive or perform.

    You are allowed to be human.

A person walking on a tightrope high in the sky against a cloudy, overcast background.

Support tailored to your role.

How I can support you.

A hand holding a translucent, dried leaf against a backlit, bokeh background.
Two people walking down a forest trail surrounded by tall green trees.
A woman sitting on a black leather couch, smiling, with her hand resting on her chin, next to a large white floor lamp in a minimalistic room. 
You’re used to doing the work. I help you do it differently.

Hello, I’m

DR. SHIRLEY LEY

I know what it feels like to be the one who holds it all together. I understand the weight of family expectations, the complexity of living between cultures, and the exhaustion that comes from perpetual striving.

My work centers cultural and ancestral experiences because I believe our healing needs space that honors both individual struggle and collective wisdom. We don't need to choose between honoring our families and honoring ourselves.

Where WORK moves you forward, from WITHIN.