Biography

Dr. Amy Choi is a licensed clinical psychologist in California who has worked in the field of mental health for more than 20 years. She has been trained in diverse theoretical orientations and treatment modalities, including, but not limited to psychodynamic psychotherapy, Gestalt Therapy, Internal Family System, Somatic Experiencing, AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), Brainspotting, cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavior therapy, behavior analysis, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Lifespan Integration Therapy, Comprehensive Resource Model Trauma Therapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Imago Relationship Therapy, Emotionally Focused Couple's Therapy, and Intimacy from Inside Out Couple's Therapy (Internal Family System based couple's therapy).

She has worked with a wide range of clients – adolescents, couples, families, older adults, individuals with developmental disabilities, individuals with early childhood neglect and abuse, individual with PTSD and/or developmental traumas, individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, and individuals with personality disorders,

Dr. Choi has training and experience in treating anxiety, depression, OCD, behavior problems, abuse victims, PTSD, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, borderline personality, as well as other personality disorders.

Dr. Choi brings all of her training in various theoretical orientations and treatment modalities and all of her experiences of working with such a diverse population to treating her clients. Her treatment is individualized to best address each client's needs, to reduce levels of distress and suffering, and to help restore a sense of wholeness and expand a client's awareness of the present moment to maximize the meaning of their experience of life.

While all of her diverse training and experiences are integrated into what Dr. Choi provides to her clients, her approach is also informed by current research in the area of development, attachment, mind and body integration, neurobiology, and spirituality. To Dr. Choi, a therapist's presence and attunement to a client's emotional experience in a therapeutic relationship is the most crucial aspect of psychotherapy; a therapist's presence and attunement should always guide the process of a person's intrapsychic restructuring of cognition, emotion, and implicit body memories. Dr. Choi believes effective therapy brings together the affective, cognitive, behavioral, physiological, and spiritual systems within a person, always with an awareness of the social and transpersonal aspects of the systems surrounding those of the individual person.

Dr. Choi is dedicated to expanding her expertise to ensure her practice remains informed by the most current research and discoveries in therapeutic approaches and techniques. During the last three years, she has spent over 1000 hours attending major conferences and clinical workshops. Additionally, she is an active member of many different psychological organizations and subscribes to a number of medical journals. Dr. Choi is actively involved in consultation groups in which experienced mental health professionals come together to promote continuous professional growth and to challenge each other to pursue excellence and the highest to helping clients.

Professional Affiliation/ Memberships

• American Psychological Association (APA)

• American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH)

• California Psychological Association (CPA)

• Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA)

• Contemporary Psychoanalytic Institute (ICPLA)

• Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)

• Gestalt Associates Training Los Angeles (GATLA)

• Imago Relationship North America (IRNA)

• Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS)

• Pacific Gestalt Institute (PGI)

• Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) International

• Academy of Guided Imagery (AGI)

• Brainspotting International

• EMDR International Association (EMDRIA)

• Imago Relationship North America (IRNA)

• International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD)

• The Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology

• The International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy