Hi! I'm Dr. Josephine Chu (she/her/她).
I'm a Florida licensed psychologist, offering online therapy for individuals and families throughout 39 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 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. My career journey has given me the opportunity to work with clients of all ages for the past 10 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.
Next steps
Especially if this is your first time exploring counseling as an option, it can be unclear what happens between visiting a therapist's website and attending your first appointment. Here is the step-by-step:
Visit the Contact page to call or email me, or use the online calendar to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation. If you call and I don't answer, please leave a voice message (due to spam calls, I typically don't follow up with missed calls that don't come with a voice message). I will respond as soon as possible, in no more than 2 business days.
During the phone consultation, I will ask you a few questions about what you hope to work on, and invite you to ask me questions about how I may help.
a) If we mutually decide to give it a try, we will schedule a 1-hour Intake Assessment appointment where I can get to know you, your concerns, and your background.
b) If either or both of us decide we may not be a good fit, I will share referral information of other therapists or resources that may better help you.
c) If you aren't ready to schedule an appointment at this time, you are welcome to reach out again in the future.
Prior to your first appointment, I will get you set up on a secure Client Portal where you will fill out and sign a set of forms, review important information about starting counseling with me, enter payment information, and receive the online session link.
While it can be helpful to reflect on what you want to address in counseling beforehand, there is no pressure as I will guide us through the first appointment.
At the end of the first appointment, we will collaboratively discuss your counseling goals and make a treatment plan, such as how often we may meet. However, attending the first appointment does not obligate you to continue therapy with me.