Bio
Gisoo earned a Bachelor’s degree in Child and Adolescent Development from California State University Northridge and later gained her Master’s Degree (2013) from Philips Graduate Institute in Psychology with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her interest in supporting children and families lead her to initial traineeship involving providing mental health services for relatives raising at-risk children. With this experience as her base, Gisoo went on to work for the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to offer individual and family therapy services.
Gisoo continued her training and internship at Philips Graduate Counseling Center working for public and private school sectors. This allowed her to continue assisting children and families within a multidisciplinary team where she could support them with their social-emotional challenges and guide them towards academic success. Gisoo provided school-based individual and group sessions for elementary- aged children and their families covering various subject matters such as divorce, grief/loss, anger management, bullying and self-esteem. Furthermore, Gisoo worked closely with the students to help them develop strong social skills, learn healthy emotional regulation, adaptive prosocial behaviors, and cope with separation anxiety.
Taking this experience with her, Gisoo further solidified her skills by joining The Help Group and providing school-based therapy services for adolescents in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) school for children with Autism, developmental disabilities, and those with various co-morbid diagnoses. Throughout the five years she was there, Gisoo gained further experience with helping students and their families navigate challenges that impact this population within a school-setting using individual, group, and family therapy sessions.
Gisoo also created goals and tracked a student’s social-emotional progress as delineated through their Individualized Education Program (IEP), provided recommendations to parents and staff during student IEP meetings, and advocated for her client’s needs. Additionally, Gisoo provided crisis management services for her clients, as well as presented psychoeducation to teachers on how to interact with students during a crisis. Additionally, continual consultation with school staff and supportive services teams (e.g. speech pathologists, behavior interventionists, Occupational therapists, and outside mental health providers) facilitated Gisoo’s systemic approach to helping the needs of her clients.
Overall, Gisoo has aimed to enhance her experience in helping children, adolescents, and families by comprehending their needs across various settings, and within various complex systems that encapsulate their lives. She hopes to continue to use these experiences to guide her work in aiding children, adolescents, and families in not only navigating challenges but also in identifying opportunities within the personal and external factors that impact their lives.