Hi! I'm Dr. Josephine Chu (she/her/她).
I'm a Florida licensed psychologist, offering online therapy for individuals and families throughout 42 U.S. PSYPACT® states. I grew up in Malaysia, where it feels like summer all-year-round. I've lived in six cities and three countries in my lifetime, and I'm happy to call Florida my second home.
As someone who has been to therapy, I know it can be challenging to find a therapist who is the right fit, not to mention a bit intimidating to start the process. I hope to share all the information you need on my website to help you take the next step.
Approach
I value a balance of empathy and authenticity (warmth and "real-ness", if you will) in my work as a therapist. I believe the therapy session is ultimately your time, so I collaboratively set goals with you to guide our work together.
I consider the ways family, past relationships, and culture influence your worldview and current relationships, and whether those influences are helpful or less helpful to you now. By helping you get to know yourself better, I believe your inner strength will emerge to help you make the changes you desire, while you learn to offer more compassion for yourself. I also provide strategies for managing stress, confronting anxiety, challenging avoidance, communicating effectively, and resolving conflict.
Therapy takes courage and hard work, so I believe in using humor and being real with you in the process.
International Education & Qualifications
I have been fascinated by human behavior and resilience since a young age, which became a passion during my undergraduate studies in Psychology at University College London. I have a Master's and a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from University of Indianapolis. My career journey has given me the opportunity to work with clients of all ages for the past 12 years to improve their mental health. Some highlights of my experiences include my Postdoctoral Fellowship at UF Health Psychology at Springhill in Gainesville, Florida, my former role as Interim Assistant Director for Clinical Services at the USF Counseling Center in Tampa, Florida, and being owner of Dr. Chu Psychology LLC, a Florida-based telehealth therapy practice. In addition to individuals in Florida, I hold the Authorization to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT) granted by the PSYPACT® Commission, which allows me to provide online services to clients in all PSYPACT® participating states. I'm also a professional member of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF).
My treatment specialties include anxiety and OCD, relationship or interpersonal concerns, and family issues using a culturally-informed framework. Please see the Therapy menu above for additional concerns I have expertise in. I have extensive experiences and training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), attachment-based therapy, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). I also integrate elements of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Inference-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT) in my work.
Therapist Directories
I have listed my practice information on the following therapist directories only, in addition to my Google Business profile.
Please be informed that:
Some therapist directories list mental health providers who personally manage, and sometimes pay for, their profile listing. Typically, a legitimate profile listing managed by a provider will have links to the provider's website or their practice phone number.
However, there are directories or review-based websites that use publicly available information to list mental health provider profiles without their permission.
I am not able to control the use of my publicly available professional information (e.g., my name, the business name, the business address and phone number, type of profession, type of healthcare practice) on some websites, which may be outdated, misleading, or fraudulent.
Some therapist directories run ads for mental health platforms that I am not affiliated with. These ads may appear on or alongside my profile, but this does not mean I endorse them.