About Dr. Nina Nguy, Asian Psychologist in Orange County

Asian Therapist in Orange County

It’s so hard to be different when you’re from a culture where tradition and blending in are so important.  Guilty feelings and thoughts of all the things you should do drive your decisions in life.  You want to honor and respect your family, but you also want to stay true to yourself.  How do you do that when your family’s culture and the American culture are so different?  In an attempt to appease and quiet the conflicting parts of yourself, you end up feeling like a fraud and a disappointment – you feel not “Asian” enough but also not “American” enough.

Who is Dr. Nina Nguy?

Hi there! I’m Dr. Nina Nguy (pronounce “n-wee”) (PSY24104).  I’m a Clinical Psychologist in Orange County. My family is ethnically Chinese, but we have lived in Vietnam for a few generations.   I am a 1.5 generation immigrant, which means I was born in Vietnam and escaped the Communist government by boat with my family.  I was old enough to have memories of that trauma and our year in a refugee camp in Indonesia, but still young enough to spend my primary school age years in America, longing to fit in with American kids around me. I understand the expectations to be one way at home, and the pressure to be the complete opposite at school.  I was too outspoken and disobedient at home, but too quiet at school.  I did not fit the mold of a traditional Asian girl.  I was obese, “defiant” (at home), and was not good at math and science.  Ridicule, shame, and guilt feelings were intimately familiar to me growing up. 

Want to learn more about my story and why I became a Psychologist? Click here to read my interview with VoyageLA.   

How therapy with me can help

My childhood trauma drives me to help people caught between two generations and multiple ways of identifying themselves.  If you’ve ever felt these feelings, I can help you feel better and make something good out of them.  I will help you access and connect with disavowed aspects of yourself to feel whole.  I will help you repair relationships and make peace within yourself and with loved ones.  I am a Vietnamese speaking therapist with expertise connecting first and second-generation immigrants with each other. I specialize in anxiety therapy for Asian professional, Asian parenting, affair recovery, and perinatal mental health.

You will like working with me, I’m different.

• Our sessions will be interactive! I don’t just nod my head, say mm-hmm, and parrot back what you say to me.  I will demonstrate and teach you skills to feel better and change your situation.  I will help you see experiences from perspectives you didn’t know existed.

• You do not have to take care of me.  I am someone you could disagree with or fall apart in front of without fear of causing pain and being “too much”.  I’ve had years of my own psychotherapy/psychoanalysis to be healthy and resilient.  Not only can I handle it; I can transform that breakdown into a therapeutic experience for you. 

• You will know where I stand at any given time because you could read it on my face.  I have a very expressive face, I can’t help it!  I’ve learned that this is especially comforting for people who are prone to having anxiety about what others might think of them. 

• You will be challenged.  I will call you out on your BS if I feel like something you’re doing (or not doing) in hindering your progress and growth.  I have the courage to tell you things you might not want to hear but NEED to hear.  Feedback from a previous patient captures this well. She said, “you have a way of telling me I’m wrong without making me feel bad.”

• You will transform. Most of my patients who completed treatment reported feeling like a different person – and in some cases LOOKING like a different person because they’ve become physically healthier, as well as being mentally and emotionally healthier.  I feel grateful to be reminded of my impact when I get referrals from past patients whose treatment ended years ago. 

Fun facts about Dr. Nina Nguy

• I was born a Lefty, but forced to be a Righty growing up, so now I’m ambidextrous!

• I love going mud whompin’ and off-roading, especially in the rain!

• I’m always up to do anything in the rain.  Rain makes everything more fun and memorable!

• I’m also a licensed manicurist and certified massage therapist.  I worked as both to help pay for college and graduate school.

• I love eating “interactive” meals at home (think hot pot, and DIY spring rolls) because it transforms a meal into an experience!

 Education & Qualifications

• Certified in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)

• Completed certification program to conduct psychological evaluations for immigration court

• Certification in Perinatal Mental Health from Perinatal Support International (PSI)

• Psychoanalysis Training at Newport Psychoanalytic Institute – completed two years of coursework, case consultation, clinical supervision, & personal psychoanalysis

• Supervisor for doctoral psychology students’ clinical work

• Taught Human Diversity & Intercultural Processes at CSPP at Alliant International University for 3 years.

• Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology, an accredited program by the American Psychological Association (APA)

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The University of San Francisco, Summa Cum Laude

Contact me at (626) 991-2099 for your free 15-minute phone consultation for in-person or online therapy in California.