Grace Ou

Hello!  My name is Grace Ou, and I am a licensed marriage and family therapist working in the state of California.  

I believe that it is important for us as humans to be fully seen, appreciated, and understood in the multifaceted layers and parts that make up a person.  I do this in sessions by creating a safe holding space as we journey together through painful parts of our stories so that we do not feel alone.  I do this while holding out hope for a better future, even when my clients can’t see it for themselves.  I utilize various tools and coping skills to bring these possibilities to fruition.  

The two main times I use the havening techniques in my practice is to help overcome trauma and when working with sticky brains.  

I use havening when my clients have experienced trauma, whether this is from the recent present or distant past.  I also incorporate havening when clients are feeling anxious about something that has not happened yet in the future.  Havening techniques allow the brain to release the fear and triggers related to the event (whether past, present, or future) and creates room for new, more hopeful, and supportive possibilities to become realities in the brain. 

Sticky brains are when our amygdala (a.k.a. our Amy) has been working on overload to keep us safe.  There are things that our Amy/ she (the amygdala) has learned and perceived about the world that has kept us safe in prior contexts.  However, when Amy is super active or hypervigilant, it can often come at a cost.  Maybe our brain is more prone to negative self-talk, low self esteem, never thinking that we could be good enough.  Doing the havening work in these brains can be powerful at unlocking some of those unhelpful triggers and replacing them with new pathways and off ramps to more positive and resilient possibilities.  

If this sounds of interest to you, or if you’re curious to learn more, please contact me for a free 15-minute phone consultation.  I’d love to see if we’re a good fit in working together and be able to help you on your healing journey.