Portrait of a smiling female Asian American woman in Seoul and the Bay Area San Franciscoa with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a white top and gold earrings, standing against a plain light-colored background.

01/03

Minji Kim, AMFT

registered associate mft 150938/working under supervision

I am an Asian-American associate marriage and family therapist #150938, practicing under the supervision of Hanna Byeon, LMFT #126398. I approach therapy with warmth, a relational style, and a culturally informed, holistic perspective. I believe that therapy is most effective when it feels like a safe, supportive partnership between therapist and client. Based in San Francisco and the Bay Area, I currently offer virtual sessions to clients in throughout California.

My clinical experience spans work with children, families, couples, individual adults, and the elderly from a diverse range of socioeconomic, educational, and racial backgrounds, and I welcome clients of every background. As a child of immigrants myself, I am well-versed in the nuances that come with straddling multiple cultures and the unique challenges that may originate from being distanced from your family or country of origin. My personal background enables me to empathize with other first- and second-generation immigrants and help them reconcile their multiple identities. I'm fluent in English and Korean; most of my sessions are in English, and you're welcome to switch into Korean whenever it feels more natural.

Prior to becoming a therapist, I had a brief stint in academia and worked for nearly a decade as a creative strategist in the world of startups, design, and the arts. It’s a privilege to now be able to help entrepreneurs, founders, creatives, and other working professionals thrive in a deeper and more personal capacity. Having worked with high-achieving individuals in fast-paced environments for many years, I know what it’s like to manage work stress, try to find meaning in the hustle, and navigate difficult professional relationships—all while balancing family and your sense of self in the process. You might be burnt out, unsure of your next step, or facing delicate situations at work and home. It can feel daunting, and I bring both clinical training and lived experience to help you move forward in these situations with groundedness, resilience, and clarity. 

As a wife in an intercultural marriage and mother, I am also intimately familiar with the work that it takes to foster a healthy marriage, and the challenges that come with new parenthood. Life transitions have a way of rustling up old wounds and shadows, and it can be easy to lose yourself and the connection you had with your partner in the flurry of postpartum and raising young kids. Whether it’s the same fight that keeps resurfacing, past hurts that continue to reverberate into the present, or new family dynamics to navigate, including intercultural couples navigating two sets of family expectations, I’m here to help you through it all. Let’s find ways together to rediscover yourself, reconnect with your partner, and show up fully for your family while remaining true to your own needs, desires, and professional aspirations.

At the heart of my work is the belief that healthy relationships with others and with ourselves are key to a fulfilling life. It would be an honor to walk alongside you and help you navigate life’s challenges, rediscover balance in yourself, and find greater peace in your relationships.

Learn More ⟶

02/03

Clinical Focus

Mood, anxiety, ADHD, and self-worth

Trauma, grief and family

  • Trauma and complex PTSD

  • Generational trauma

  • Grief and loss

  • Family conflict

Founders, executives and creatives

  • Burnout and work stress

  • Imposter syndrome and leadership stress

  • Difficult professional relationships

  • Tech-industry stress, layoffs, and career uncertainty

  • Career changes and finding meaning in your work

  • Creatives and artists

Maternal Mental Health & Parents

  • Therapy for moms: postpartum depression, anxiety, and birth trauma

  • Matrescence and identity after becoming a mom

  • Going back to work and the working-mom juggle

  • Mom guilt and the mental load

  • New parenthood and shifting family dynamics

  • Ambitious women balancing career and motherhood

Couples and relationships

Identity and life transitions

  • Children of immigrants and multicultural identity

  • Life transitions and relocating to the Bay Area

  • Balancing ambition, family, and your sense of self

  • Asian American and second-generation professionals

  • LGBTQ+-affirming therapy

03/03

My Approach

Collaborative
holistic
warm

Submit An Inquiry ⟶

I offer a warm and gentle collaborative approach, grounded in the belief that healing is a journey best taken together. As a Restoration Therapist, I am shaped by attachment theory, family systems theory, and somatic therapy, which allows me to view your experiences through multiple lenses and tailor our work to your unique needs. I aim to craft a space where you can safely explore areas of difficulty and pain, unearth unconscious patterns of relating, and foster meaningful change. I seek to walk with you as you reconnect with the parts of yourself that may have been lost or buried over time. In my work, I also use Brainspotting, a somatic-based therapy model, to help shed the weight of harmful cultural and familial narratives that have become ingrained. Together, we will rediscover truths about your identity, nurture a compassionate connection to your true self, and practically move toward greater growth and healing. Throughout this process, I will walk beside you, supporting you as you navigate this season and step into a more integrated life.

THERAPIST-CLIENT FIT IS IMPORTANT TO THE THERAPY EXPERIENCE 

I offer a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation to determine if we might be a good fit to work together. It takes courage to reach out for support. I consider it a privilege to journey alongside you toward your healing and wellness that empowers you to live out your most authentic life.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Minji is a second-generation Korean American who grew up in the U.S. She is culturally American and fluent in Korean, so she understands both worlds: American workplaces, friendships, and marriages, and the Korean family expectations many of her clients grew up with. Clients often say they don't have to explain either side of who they are.

  • Minji sees clients online only, anywhere in California. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and works with clients in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and Fremont, as well as Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and across the state. You need to be physically located in California at the time of each session.

  • Yes. As a mom of a young child herself, Minji understands how much changes when you become a parent. She supports moms with postpartum depression and anxiety, birth trauma, mom guilt, losing your sense of self, going back to work, and the strain a new baby puts on your marriage. Online sessions make it easier to fit therapy around naps and nursing. Learn more about therapy for moms and postpartum therapy at Oak and Stone Therapy.

  • Yes. Korean and Korean American moms often carry extra layers after birth: expectations around 산후조리 (postpartum recovery), a mother or mother-in-law moving in to help, being far from family in Korea, or feeling you have to hold it all together. Minji helps you sort through these expectations in Korean or English and get the support you need. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, call or text 988 right away, or call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-852-6262, available 24/7.

  • Yes. Minji is in an intercultural marriage herself and works with couples from different cultures, races, and languages, including Korean and non-Korean partners. She helps couples navigate in-laws, different ideas about family roles and closeness, language gaps, and raising bicultural children, so your differences become a strength instead of a source of conflict. Read more about intercultural and interracial couples therapy in Los Angeles.

  • Yes. The transition to parenthood is one of the hardest seasons for a marriage. Minji helps new parents with sleep-deprived conflict, an uneven division of labor, losing time for each other, and different parenting styles shaped by each partner's family and culture. Sessions are online, so you can join together from home.

  • Yes. Before becoming a therapist, Minji spent nearly a decade as a creative strategist in startups, design, and the arts, so she understands the pace and pressure of building something. She helps founders, entrepreneurs, and executives with burnout, anxiety, perfectionism, leadership stress, and the toll work takes on relationships and family life. Learn more about therapy for founders and executives.

  • Yes. Minji works with engineers, product leaders, designers, and other tech professionals across the Bay Area facing burnout, layoffs and career uncertainty, imposter syndrome, and the pressure to keep performing. Online sessions fit around demanding schedules, including early mornings and lunch breaks.

  • Yes. With her own background in design and the arts, Minji supports creatives with creative blocks, unstable income, self-doubt, and the tension between making art and making a living. Learn more about therapy for creatives and artists.

  • Yes. As the child of immigrants herself, Minji understands the pull between your parents' expectations and your own life. She helps first- and second-generation children of immigrants with people-pleasing, perfectionism, guilt, intergenerational trauma, and finding a cultural identity that feels like yours.

  • Yes. Relocating to California for a job, a spouse's assignment, or a fresh start can be isolating, especially with young children, a new language, and family far away in your home country. Minji supports individuals, couples, and parents adjusting to life in California, in Korean or English, online from wherever you live in the state.

  • Yes. Minji works with depression, anxiety, complex PTSD and trauma, ADHD, grief, and codependency. She often combines talk therapy with Brainspotting to help you process what feels stuck, not just understand it.

*Virtual therapy in LA, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area across California.