I have been practicing psychotherapy for over 8 years in public/government and hospital outpatient clinic settings, where I have had the privilege of working with a wide cross-section of individuals, families, and couples.
For as long as I can remember, I enjoyed observing/watching people and had a curiosity and interest in hearing people’s stories and understanding human behavior, which led me to study psychology in college. After college, I got a job as a victim advocate at the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney. In this position, I provided liaison and coordination between the victims/witnesses of violent crimes and law enforcement, prosecutors, and community agencies to facilitate communication and provide support and advocacy for victims and families, with special emphasis on outreaching to the Korean community in Los Angeles, which was identified as an under-served community. In my role, I became aware of the lack of mental health services and providers in the Asian American community, as well as the big need for mental health services in the Asian American community; unfortunately, many individuals never got connected to the mental health care they desperately needed.
I felt inspired to find out how I can contribute to the community in that specific area, and I learned about the master of social work degree from my boss at the time. I felt really excited about the idea of working directly with people in this way, and applied to graduate school for my master’s in social work, and that’s where all of this started.
I worked with the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney for almost 4 years. Since then, I completed a clinical internship at a level-12 group home, providing individual and group therapy for youth (ages 12-18) referred through the Department of Children and Family Services or the Department of Probation, exhibiting behavioral, social, and emotional difficulties. I completed my second clinical internship at the Office of the Medical Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, where I assisted in oversight of clinical operations and development of policies to ensure clinical integrity and quality of policies and services within the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, and learned a great deal about program development and systems involved in mental health care.
Upon completing my graduate degree, I worked as a therapist for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health in an outpatient clinic setting for over 3 years, providing individual and group therapy to adults of various socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, presenting with various issues from chronic mental illness to work stress, relationship issues, and life transition issues. I was also fortunate enough to be able to connect with and provide therapy to monolingual Korean patients. I then transitioned to Kaiser Permanente, where I have been working as a therapist in the department of psychiatry since 2014, providing individual and group therapy to adults and adolescents, and am part of the clinical team for teen intensive outpatient program.
Education:
University of California, Los Angeles | Bachelor of Arts, Psychology
University of Southern California | Master of Social Work
License:
California Board of Behavioral Sciences
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (License# LCSW67153)
Jennifer E. Sung, L.C.S.W. | Psychotherapist 