Therapy for Burnout, Shame, and Cultural Pressure

For deep-feeling, neurodivergent, and AAPI individuals navigating guilt, over-responsibility, and the pressure to keep going

Therapy that honors your nervous system, identity, and inner resilience

Schedule a free 15-min phone consultation

About me

My name is Tsuki Niu 梁子祈, the name I was given in my mother tongue, Taiwanese. My legal name in Mandarin is Tzu-Chi Liang. I’m a cisgender, bisexual woman in my 30s, able-bodied, highly sensitive, and 1/4 Indigenous.

I grew up in Taiwan in a middle-class Christian family where the church was a central part of life. That upbringing rooted me in community care and social justice, but it also came with pressure to succeed, to conform, and to hide the parts of myself that didn’t fit the mold.

Like many of my clients, I internalized messages about discipline, morality, and productivity, messages that left little space for rest, play, emotional expression, or reclaiming my sexuality. I learned to carefully show only the parts of me that felt safe enough to be seen.

I moved to the U.S. in the midst of a global pandemic and racial justice uprisings. Those years were disorienting and heavy, but also deeply liberating. I found space to ask deeper questions about identity, belonging, and the parts of myself I had long kept quiet. I began to hold compassion for the urgency and shame I had learned so well, and slowly to unlearn them.

The process of questioning, unlearning, and re-understanding still continues today. As I navigate life as a first-generation immigrant, move through different chapters of life, engage in ongoing training, and sit with clients whose stories echo and expand my own, these experiences shape who I am, and also how I show up in the therapy room.

Professional Experience

Early Social Work Experience in Taiwan

In Taiwan, my early career was rooted in social work within child protection and domestic violence prevention systems.

I worked with government and nonprofit programs supporting children and adolescents navigating domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and juvenile justice involvement. These experiences shaped my understanding of how deeply children’s lives are influenced by family dynamics and broader social systems. I often saw how young people were expected to change while the environments shaping them remained unexamined.

This also led me to pursue training in couple and family therapy, where I could better understand emotional and relational patterns and develop a systemic lens for working not only with individuals, but with the relationships and larger systems that shape their experiences.

Clinical Training and Therapy Work in the United States

During my clinical training in couple and family therapy in the United States, I worked with individuals, couples, and families from trauma-informed, relational, and systemic perspectives.

My work included supporting clients navigating identity development, relational conflict, emotional distress, trauma recovery, and the intersection of sexuality, spirituality, neurodivergence, and culture. I also received training in play therapy, couple and family therapy, and sex therapy.

Over the years, I have worked with people from diverse backgrounds, including neurodivergent clients, gender, sexuality, and relationship diverse communities, and multicultural couples and families.

The systemic and social justice oriented lens continues to shape how I approach therapy today, especially when working with clients navigating shame, cultural expectations, and complex family dynamics.

Credentials & Licensure

Education & Licensure

  • MS in Couple and Family Therapy, Purdue University Northwest

  • Bachelor of Social Work, Tunghai University, Taiwan

  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)

    Licensed in IL, IN, MI, WI, OR, WA, and MA

  • Certified Social Worker, Taiwan

IFS, Nervous System Informed & Trauma Training

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) – Level 1 Trained
    Grounded in ongoing personal inner work, training, and clinical consultation

  • Polyvagal-Informed Practitioner
    Training through the Polyvagal Institute. While there is no formal certification, I integrate polyvagal theory in my work.

Couples Therapy

  • Gottman Method Couples Therapy – Level 2 Trained

  • Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT)

Child & Play Therapy

  • Registered Play Therapist™ (RPT)

  • Certified AutPlay® Therapy Provider

  • Certificate in Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with Neurorelational Emphasis

  • Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant (I/ECMHC) – Illinois

  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

Additional & Ongoing Training

  • Sex Therapy Credential (CST)
    Completed all clinical training and supervision requirements for AASECT Certified Sex Therapist (CST)

What Guides My Work

I don’t believe in quick fixes or pathologizing your pain.
Healing is relational and rooted in reclaiming your story, not shrinking it.

Below are some of the values that guide my work:

  • Challenging systems of oppression, centering marginalized voices, and honoring cultural histories in the healing process.

  • Recognizing the impact of personal, collective, and intergenerational trauma, alongside systemic inequities, on mental health and well-being, and supporting clients in breaking free from intergenerational trauma cycles and understanding how environments shape our stories.

  • Understanding that mental health cannot be separated from social, political, and historical context, and working to name and address those layers with care.

  • Holding space for the complexity of multiple, layered identities and lived experiences, acknowledging how they shape access, privilege, and oppression.

  • Supporting those navigating relational wounds, reparenting their inner child, and healing at the root. Together, we explore how past patterns show up in the present and gently rebuild trust in yourself and others.

  • Honoring Gender, Sexuality, and Relationship Diversity (GSRD) by welcoming all expressions, identities, and configurations. I hold deep respect for each client’s unique story, including culturally, spiritually, and historically rooted understandings of gender, sexuality, and relationships, beyond Western frameworks or labels. All of you are welcome here.

  • I am committed to ongoing learning and co-creating flexible, non-pathologizing spaces that honor diverse ways of thinking, feeling, and being, without expecting clients to mask or conform.

  • Supporting each person in reclaiming their voice, boundaries, and power, with deep respect for self-determination.

  • Creating space for open, empowering exploration of sexuality, pleasure, and body autonomy, free from shame and judgment.

  • Valuing collective care, relational healing, and deep empathy as core parts of well-being.

  • Supporting clients in reclaiming their true sense of belonging, honoring both where you come from and who you’re becoming.

  • Committing to lifelong learning, unlearning, and action toward equity and inclusion.

  • Standing in solidarity with global movements for justice, human rights, and dignity for all people across all borders.