Meet Nhu Truong | Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nhu Truong and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nhu, how does your business help the community?
What guided me to my first time going to therapy was in college when I was contending between following a path that would bring honor to my family and a path that would fulfill my passion. In that first session I was advised to do what is best for myself as I was the one that was going to live with the outcome. I later learned in the school of life that bringing honor to my family and fulfilling my passion can coexist, but it wasn’t in therapy that I was able to have the space to be asked about culture and my values for the collectivist. What was missed were the questions that acknowledge my indebtedness to my family for their sacrifices and for my values of care for my community. I believe that culture and social-political events influences the problems around us and in talking about these issues as it relates to mental health and deconstructing the singular meaning of these problems, we can have more agency to be the person that we prefer. My hopes for my community is to create a space to have enriching conversations that honors culture, values, and our preferred way of being.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Starting my professional career as a mental health therapist was challenging both professionally and personally. During my traineeship as a therapist I, like many other students and interns, was not privilege with only having to do school and my traineeship. Instead, I had to fit in two part time jobs all while commuting from OC to SD on a weekly basis to help care for a family member. This experience guided me to reflect on the value of family that is ingrained as an immigrant. That on some nights despite the heavy weight of tiredness, not seeing family isn’t an option. It also makes me reflect on the financial and emotional weight that students, interns, and trainees have to endure in order to complete the graduate coursework of being a therapist. Personally, I would not have been able to be in this position if it wasn’t for the love and care from my partner and community. I wouldn’t say I was proud of my road to getting licensed as I saw that as something many of us had to do. What I am proud of, was my journey post licensure. After being freed up of some of my responsibilities and after learning from many therapist that shared their story of burnout with me, I was able to find space to rest and be reintroduce to the hobbies that I once loved. I felt excited to get back into reading and to binge watch Stranger Things. What invites in excitement into my work is to relate and connect with other humans. I consider myself lucky to have found a career that allows me to incorporate life experiences, hobbies, books, TV shows, and culture to craft the questions that my clients and I share in our space together.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It would be a week full of delicious food. My favorite local places around Orange County is Pho Kim Quy, Navarros Taqueria, and Bo De Tinh Tam Chay. We can play arcade games in Round One and go karaokeing. I grew up in San Diego so I would definitely bring them to my favorite independent bookstore, The Book Catapult. We would go hiking and walk along Del Mar beach. Get dinner at Tacos El Gordo and end the night with Mr. Frosties for dessert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I honestly would not be the therapist that I am today if it wasn’t for the village of people that extended their support to me. I want to start off with sending my first shoutout to Dr. Jerriann Peters who is both my mentor and the professor that introduced me to my love for Narrative Therapy, the Pepperdine Community Center that was lead by Dr. Wigg and David Marsten, my supervisors and peers at WYS, the wonderful colleagues and friends that I am grateful to consult with Parisa Gallinger, Ava Elmzadeh, Nicole Medina, and Vicky Truong, and lastly to the special humans at Gather and Grow OC who have provided me with immeasurable support and love especially Kristel Yoneda, Traci Medeiros, and Jacqueline Plante.

Website: https://www.gatherandgrowoc.com/nhu-truong

Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/nhu-y-truong-fullerton-ca/916081