Marissa is a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC) who values the integration of cultural sensitivity into mental health care. With Korean, Japanese, and Scottish-American roots, her multicultural background gives her a personal understanding of the complexities of identity and belonging.

Clinical Expertise

Marissa brings a compassionate, client-centered, and relational approach to her clinical work, with a particular interest in supporting individuals through grief, identity-related challenges, anxiety, depression, and relationship conflict. She brings her authentic self into her work and centers the importance of building a therapeutic relationship built on mutual trust and meaningful connection. She believes in the importance of meeting clients where they are and invites them to share their stories. Her warm, grounded presence offers a safe space for clients to explore pain, loss, and personal growth.

Marissa takes a holistic and integrative approach to therapy, taking time to help clients build self-insight into their emotions, thoughts, patterns, and behaviors and better understand how all of their cumulative experiences throughout life interact and impact challenges they may be experiencing today. As a person who holds marginalized identities herself, she understands the profound impact of having a clinician who reflects your own identities and/or has parallel lived experiences. Marissa views the therapeutic relationship and meaningful, authentic human connection as central to the change and healing process.

Training

Marissa received her Master's degree at CU Denver in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She completed a clinical internship at Agape Healthcare Hospice & Palliative Care where she specialized in grief and loss, supporting loved ones of hospice patients as they navigated their unique grief experiences. She has experience working in nonprofit community mental health and working with clients of diverse cultural backgrounds and identities.

Education

• University of Miami, BA

• University of Colorado, Denver, MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling

• Licensed in Colorado; supervised by Dr. King

Outside the Office

Marissa enjoys being in the mountains with her partner and their dog, Mandu (means "dumpling" in Korean), cooking family recipes with her mom, traveling and adventuring with her family, and spending sunny days in the park with her friends and community.