Jing Zhang, LMFT

I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. I also hold a Pupil Personnel Service Credential with over 6 years of experience working in public schools. I work with clients of all ages, especially children, teenagers, young adults, and parents. I not only work with minors who are experiencing stress, anxiety, depression due to low self-esteem, family and life change, environmental stress, conflicts in life, hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), or trauma but also work with parents to improve their parenting skills and collaboratively reduce behavioral symptoms exhibited by their children. Additionally, I facilitate family meetings to resolve conflicts and enhance their understanding of each other to help the family grow as a whole.

I graduated from Zhejiang University with a master’s degree in Communication in 2002 and pursued my second master’s degree in Counseling at Cal State East Bay, with a concentration on School Counseling and Family Therapy in 2019, driven by my dedication to support people's mental health in their life journey toward healing. My years of experience working in public schools in the Bay Area deepened my understanding of the social and emotional challenges that students and parents face. It’s rewarding to support clients navigate their struggles—whether they’re dealing with academic pressure, perfectionism, anxiety, grief, or family stress, cultural conflicts, relational frictions. I feel truly honored to be a part of their lives and to help bring about positive change.
My therapeutic approach is person-centered, solution-focused, and system-based. Each client is unique. I use interventions from a range of modalities to suit the client’s age, personality, and concerns, including, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, Theraplay, Gestalt Therapy, and Solution Focused Therapy. Aside from “talking” with clients, I also employ art, sand trays, and puppets to enhance therapeutic work. I strive to address deep courses of a client’s emotional stress and help them heal from their trauma or unfinished businesses. Sometimes, I will assign homework between sessions as this is where the change occurs and can be reinforced.
All my experiences, including being a mother of two boys, a wife who is balancing family and work, a first-generation immigrant, and a person of a minority group, often resemble those of my clients or family of clients. My background provides me with a unique understanding of what clients are going through. Life is full of challenges and uncertainties. I love getting to know people and helping them increase their self-awareness, strengthen self-acceptance, and find solutions to problems in life. I am glad and grateful for helping people as a therapist. I appreciate every client’s trust in me and be with them in their life journey.
I use empathetic responses to provide a non-conditional positive regard towards my clients. I validate and reflect on clients' thoughts and feelings often to have them feel heard and cared for. My overall tone and environment of each session are warm, genuine, and personal. I follow the client's pace of progress often, while in some critical “Aha” moments, I might gently confront the client and promote the change as increased self-awareness is beneficial for the client's treatment process.
During our initial meeting, I may ask questions like “What brings you to therapy?” Or “ What parts of your life would you like to be different?” I might also ask questions about your stressors in life, and explore with you what you have tried to work on those challenges, what worked for you and what did not. Sometimes, clients are not sure of the answers to these questions, that is ok. We are working together to explore what you want and can benefit from our meetings together.
It might be uncomfortable to be with a stranger in a virtual meeting. All feelings you might have in the setting are normal! I am holding a safe space for you to explore your thoughts, feelings, needs, and wants. I am genuinely interested in you and your experiences and eager to help you. Depending on the approach I am using, sometimes, I might ask you questions to start our exploration; sometimes, I might have clients lead our meeting. You decide what you want or don’t want to share, and you can say anything you want to say to me. Everything about you is accepted unconditionally in our space.