Alice Huang, PhD

MY EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS I am one of the few psychologists with specialized training and extensive experience in couple therapy. I completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship in couple therapy accredited by the American Psychological Association, before serving as the sole full-time couple therapist in the Veteran Affairs Central Ohio Healthcare System. I have enjoyed using my expertise to help hundreds of couples of diverse identities (e.g., age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, ability, marital status). Before specializing in couple therapy, I completed my B.A. in psychology at Yale University, my Ph.D. in clinical & community psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, & my clinical psychology pre-doctoral internship at the Charleston Consortium, one of the dozen members of the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science. My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and featured in Psychology Today, international media outlets such as Business Insider Germany, and The New York Times #1 Best Seller Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown, which was later adapted into an HBO Max docuseries. MY APPROACH TO COUPLE THERAPY Common goals that I help couples achieve include unpacking, understanding, and resolving conflicts, such as problems in communication or differences between you and your partner; enhancing intimacy—verbal, physical, and sexual; rebuilding or strengthening trust; and adjusting to major life changes. Based on your and your partner’s unique needs, I personalize your treatment by synthesizing psychological theories and couple therapies validated by the strongest evidence from scientific research: Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, Integrated Behavioral Couple Therapy, and Enhanced Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy. Dozens of randomized controlled trials (the gold standard for testing therapies’ effectiveness) have shown their positive impact on relationships—follow-up studies have shown that couples tend to maintain significant improvement long after completing treatment. HOW DOES COUPLE THERAPY WITH ME LOOK LIKE? To ensure the best quality of care for my patients, I work with no more than a dozen couples per week. Our first video sessions are described below. 1. Learning About Your Relationship (our first video session): I meet you and your partner together for “conjoint intake.” I learn about both of your perspectives on your relationship’s problems, history, etc. 2. Learning About Each Person (1 or more video sessions per person): I meet each of you separately for “individual intake.” I learn about your attachment experiences in childhood, past relationships, and current relationship, etc. Importantly, I will assume that your partner already knows about everything you tell me. Do not tell me anything you wish to keep secret from your partner; if you do, let me know, and you and I will discuss how to handle this piece of information. 3. Feedback and Recommendations (1 or more video sessions): I meet with you and your partner together and share my initial analysis of your relationship. Collaboratively, we recognize your relationship’s strengths—often forgotten, but very important! We explore your relationship’s conflicts: what are they, and where did they come from? How have they been influenced by past experiences? Are they exacerbated by stressors outside the relationship? Putting everything together helps us see the big picture, find the roots of conflicts, and create the best solutions. Next steps I commonly recommend include a personalized treatment plan for additional sessions of couple therapy, individual therapy for one or both partners, or both. 4. Treatment and Termination: the number of sessions couples complete range widely, from as few as 4 to 20 or more. All improvement in your relationship is thanks to your and your partner’s courage and hard work: confronting difficulties, being vulnerable with each other, talking candidly and listening with compassion, understanding each other better—and understanding yourselves better, considering new perspectives, learning and practicing new ways of expressing feelings and affection. Whenever you have achieved your goals for couple therapy, you are ready to terminate treatment, and welcome to return for booster sessions as needed. A BIT MORE ABOUT MYSELF I have lived in Taiwan, Beijing, & the Gobi Desert—as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia. My work is informed by my experiences as a therapist, as an educator, and as a volunteer supporting people of multicultural backgrounds, members of the LGBT community, military veterans & their partners, cancer patients & their family members, & more. NEXT STEPS You have taken a courageous step by seeking therapy. If you'd like to learn more about working with me, please click "Contact" (near the top and bottom of this page), or email me directly at therapy.with.dr.alice@zohomail.com with your availability to schedule a 15-minute phone consultation (no cost). I look forward to learning about you.