About Dr. Yeji Son
I grew up in Pohang, a coastal city in South Korea, and moved to Seattle in 2016 to study psychology and begin my journey toward becoming a “professional helper.”
Immigration changed more than where I lived. It changed my social position and, in many ways, the way I understood myself.
I went from belonging to the racial and ethnic majority to being a minority; from citizen to temporary resident to immigrant; from speaking my native language without thinking about it to sometimes having to ask, “Can you say that one more time?”
Through those experiences, I came to understand more deeply that human experience depends on context.
Who we are and how we experience the world are shaped by many things at once: temperament, culture, language, race, immigration status, biology, neurodiversity, relationships, and the environments we live in.
The same behavior can mean very different things in different contexts. What looks like a problem from the outside may once have been an important way of adapting, protecting ourselves, maintaining relationships, or surviving.
A diagnosis can be useful, but it is not the whole person. What we now call maladaptive coping may once have been adaptive in the context in which it developed. Culture can sustain us and constrain us at the same time.
This way of thinking continues to shape how I understand people in my work as a psychologist.
I cannot guarantee perfect understanding. No therapist can fully know another person’s experience. But I care deeply about respect and listening carefully enough to notice when my understanding may be incomplete.
I believe that you are worthy of being heard.
Yeji Son, PhD (she/they)
Licensed Psychologist
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My style is warm, direct, and honest. I believe the relationship between us matters more than any technique, so we build that first. Without trust, the things that actually need to be said stay unsaid.
Many of my clients come to therapy ready to work. I do not equate challenge with pressure. Useful challenge is paced, collaborative, and connected to what we are trying to understand.
In practice, that means I ask real questions, notice what your body is doing while you talk, and sometimes say out loud the thing no one else has.
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For individuals, I draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an approach that helps you relate differently to difficult thoughts and emotions while moving toward what matters to you. I also work with Gestalt therapy, which focuses on what is happening here and now, in your body and in the room, rather than only analyzing the past. For clients working through trauma, I use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain reprocess painful memories so they stop feeling like they are happening now.
All of this rests on trauma-informed care. I pay close attention to safety and pacing so that challenge does not become pressure or coercion. We work with mind, body, and the stories you carry, not just symptoms.
For couples, my approach is Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), an attachment-based and evidence-based approach that looks at the emotional pattern underneath the conflict: not who started the fight, but what each partner is really reaching for. I help partners slow down, see that pattern together, and find new ways to reach each other.
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You might feel at home here if:
Family-of-origin trauma still shapes how you love, work, or rest. You may find it difficult to know where to set boundaries or whether it is safe to feel grief.
Your brain works differently, whether or not you have a name for it yet, and you're tired of being told to just try harder. You may be exploring ADHD or autism as an adult, living with C-PTSD, or making sense of how these experiences overlap.
You live between two cultures or two languages, and you're tired of explaining the context before you can even get to the feeling.
You and your partner keep getting caught in the same misunderstandings, and differences in culture, communication, or neurodivergence may be part of the picture.
You want a therapist who is warm but won't just nod along.
And one honest note: as a solo virtual practice, I'm not able to provide crisis services or in-person care. If that's what you need right now, I'm glad to help you find the right resource.
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Specialized Training
EMDR Basic Training, Weekend 1 (2026)
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship for Couples — completed 2026
Education
University of Iowa
PhD in Counseling Psychology (2024)
MA in Educational Measurement and Statistics (2024)University of Denver
MA in Counseling Psychology (2018)Handong Global University
Dual Degree in Psychology and Korean Law (2016) -
Before private practice, I trained across university counseling centers, community mental health, addiction recovery, career development, and rehabilitation settings, in Korea, Singapore, and across the United States.
2025–present PADO Psychological Wellness, PLLC, Seattle: Founder & Licensed Psychologist
2024–2025 Interconnection Healing Center, Seattle: Postdoctoral Therapist
2023–2024 CAPS, California State University Long Beach: Pre-doctoral Intern
2022–2023 Student Health and Wellness Center, Grinnell College: Practicum Counselor
2021–2022 Women's Resource & Action Center, University of Iowa: Practicum Counselor
2020–2021 Pomerantz Career Center, University of Iowa: Practicum Counselor
2019–2020 University Counseling Service, University of Iowa: Practicum Counselor
2018–2020 Project H.O.P.E., University of Iowa: Graduate Assistant
2017–2018 Salvation Army Harbor Light, Denver: Intern Counselor
2016-2017 Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, Denver: Practicum Counselor
2014–2015 Career Coaching Company Paul & Mark, Seoul: Facilitator
2013–2014 Simei Rehabilitation Care Centre, Singapore: Intern Counselor
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A brief consultation can help us assess practical and clinical fit. Two or three sentences about what brings you in are enough.