Meet the Therapist: Wendy Zhao, PhD, Psychologist and Coach (Part 2)
Wendy Zhao, PhD
You can read Part 1 of our introduction to Dr. Wendy Zhao here. Today, Wendy will share more about the various patients she helps, her techniques and services.
Specialties
Dr. Wendy’s specialties are workplace pressure, interpersonal relationships, low self-esteem, anxiety, and cross-cultural adjustments.
Furthermore, she aims to address entrenched patterns of behavior, experiences of meaninglessness and emptiness, spiritual questioning, midlife and later adult life transition.
Who She Helps
Wendy works with business professionals with workplace pressure adjustment, emotional and behavioral issues, family conflict, and stress management. She also supports females who have experienced trauma and helps them with their self-growth and exploration.
Dr. Wendy’s personal experience as a “third culture kid” enables her to relate to the challenges facing students undergoing transitions and encountering culture shock.
Techniques and Training
Dr. Wendy was trained in Jungian analytical psychology, CBT (cognitive behavior therapy), and expressive arts therapy (dream, myth, fairy tale, sand-play, drawing, and story writing).
Jungian analytical psychology is a systematic examination and cultivation of the inner life. It applies to both those with neurosis and those without who wish to develop their capacity for living a meaningful life. The conscious attitude of each patient is considered as well as what is going on in the unconscious that may be affecting that person’s behavior. The central approach to the unconscious is through dream interpretation. A dream is considered to be an objective expression of the psyche describing, in symbolic language, the nature of the current psychic situation. The exploration and understanding of dreams, therefore, becomes a powerful aid in the analytical work.
In addition to dreams, imaginative and expressive activity of all kinds is encouraged. For example, sand play, drawing, and story-writing may be suggested as means of expressing emerging unconscious material. Such creative products are then examined in much the same way as dreams. This objectification of the psychic image can be a profound source of healing. The goal is wholeness and individuation, which happens when the conscious and unconscious minds are integrated and balanced.
Executive Coaching
Executive coaching is a one-on-one conversation session with senior managers or leaders within an organization. It is usually short-term with a futuristic orientation to enhance performance at work. Executive coaching helps the leader understand their current competencies, see how others perceive them, and focus on identifying and clarifying current goals and the appropriate action steps to reach those goals.
For coaching to be helpful, it should be directly tied to what the client wants to accomplish through a process that is directed by the coachee, where the coachee is empowered to uncover and develop their own path to achieving their goal. The graphic below illustrates the process of coaching.
If you feel you could benefit from some psychological help or coaching but are hesitant, Dr. Wendy offers these words from Carl Jung:
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
Dr. Wendy offers sessions in the Body & Soul Medical Clinics – Hongmei Road (Minhang), click here to schedule a consultation appointment with her.