Testimonials for Annie's Work
Annie is an incredibly gifted facilitator. Within the very first moments of our first session, her energy, openness and honesty made me feel instantly at ease. Her presence holds an atmosphere where I feel encouraged and safe to share. She has a gentle, welcoming immediacy-- yet, remains precise and insightful in her methods. As a client, I admire her intellect and trust her heart. Annie is a skillful, highly intelligent professional and an open, sensitive, tactful and warm personality. Working with her gave me deep insight into my character and new ideas about resolving the problem I brought to my session. Annie gets at things that other therapists don't. She helps me to embody my feelings rather than just talking. She pushes me to the edge of my comfort zone but I always feel safe and supported. The result is deeply moving. I understand my anxiety better and my partner notices a huge difference when I work with Annie. Annie is gentle, professional, and helped me open to a deeper understanding of myself. (Rather than telling, guessing or prescribing, I’m allowed to explore and see for myself.) She brings great curiosity and intelligence into her practice, and creates a space which is ultimately loving and supportive. I hired Annie as an independent mental health contractor at College of Alameda during a semester when we were overwhelmed with clients to serve. She exceeded all expectations. Clients said she was supportive, empowering, and she helped many of them make a lot of progress quickly. She also began offering couples counseling on campus for the first time with rave reviews. I would hire Annie again or recommend her in a heartbeat. I am privileged to have known Annie Chen for 4 years, in shared training settings, community collaborations, and personally. Annie is superb at what she does, blending a savvy systems analysis with a host of creative clinical skills. Complementing this, Annie has a quality of presence, expansively open-minded and empathetic, that I have witnessed having an uncanny effect of simultaneously soothing people about the hardest things, while also inspiring them to transcend their known limits. The professional words I give to Annie's work that at times seems magical, are “supremely skilled and attuned”. Annie has my highest respect and recommendation. I've known Annie as a colleague for four years. We co-facilitated a therapy group on the topic of aging and sexuality, and it truly was a gift to work alongside her and witness the therapeutic effect she has on her clients. Annie carries a unique blend of wisdom, sincere empathy, sharp intelligence, understanding, and valuable insight in her work as a therapist. She is highly dedicated to her practice and is incredibly trustworthy and responsible. She is artful in her way of collaborating and gently guiding clients to discover their own sense of self-understanding. I highly recommend her to anyone facing issues around sexuality, relationships, and needing support in life transitions. I worked with Annie at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, and I find her to be an excellent therapist. She is compassionate, intuitive, a great listener, thoughtful, calm and resourceful. Working together, we shared several client families and I consistently received positive feedback from our mutual clients. She is skilled in identifying core issues, resourceful with coping mechanisms, and very adept at encouraging clients and gently guiding them without judgement. She is direct when required and gentle when needed. If I ever had an opportunity to work with her, I would do so in a heartbeat because I have seen her work and believe she is a therapist par excellence. |
© 2022
Annie Chen, LMFT | (510) 992-3826