Somatic Psychotherapy · New York & New Jersey

You've spent your whole
life adapting.
Here, you don't have to.

Humans are wired for survival, protective patterns like overthinking, perfectionism, emotional shutdown, rigid "shoulds," or constant caretaking, can become automatic. My work integrates somatic regulation with insight-oriented psychotherapy, helping clients find their way back to themselves, holistically.

Meaningful therapy allows vitality, authenticity, and a sense of freedom to emerge. I help clients experience more of these vivid feelings of aliveness.

Somatic IFS 普通话 & English Brooklyn Heights Virtual Immigrant Experience Immigrant Family Dynamics ND-Affirming LGBTQ+ Affirming Neurodivergent ADHD Autism OCD CPTSD NY & NJ Licensed

About

Hi, I'm Lin.

I'm a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) based in Brooklyn Heights, offering somatic psychotherapy in English and 普通话 to clients across New York and New Jersey.

My work weaves together Somatic IFS, EMDR, and Psychodynamic Gestalt approaches. I sit with adults navigating the long echoes of trauma, the weight of immigrant family dynamics, and the quiet exhaustion of moving through a world that wasn't built for every kind of mind.

Before becoming a therapist, I worked in tech, so I understand from the inside the nuance of managing high-demand, fast-moving work while also navigating the relationships and quiet politics of a team. I'm especially passionate about working with high-functioning autistic adults in BIPOC communities, where being highly capable on the outside can mask how much is being carried underneath, and where race, culture, and neurodivergence intersect in ways that deserve real understanding.

I value depth, curiosity, and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship. I work with people who feel that words alone aren't enough, helping them build a new relationship with anxiety, triggers, and overwhelm, so that life can feel calmer, more grounded, and more fully their own.

— Lin Chen, LCSW

What I Offer

Areas of specialization

I specialize in working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, integrating somatic and depth-oriented approaches to support holistic healing.

Psychodynamic Depth Therapy

A reflective space to listen inward, to the thoughts, feelings, and patterns that shape who you are. Grounded in a Gestalt modality, this work explores what lives beneath the surface with curiosity and care.

EMDR Therapy

A trauma therapy designed to integrate fragmented experiences, bringing together body, mind, and memory, without requiring you to retell your story in detail.

Somatic Therapy

Body-based work that helps you notice, understand, and gently shift the patterns held in your nervous system. This includes Somatic IFS, connecting with the different parts of yourself through the felt sense of the body.

C-PTSD & the Immigrant Family Experience

For those who grew up in families where love was expressed through achievement, where your worth felt conditional on how well you performed, how little you needed, and how seamlessly you translated a world your parents couldn't fully navigate.

C-PTSD Parentified Child Immigrant Families Emotional Neglect Identity & Belonging Intergenerational Trauma

Growing up as the child of immigrants often means carrying weight that was never yours to hold. You may have served as a language broker, cultural interpreter, or emotional anchor for your parents, all before you had the language to name your own needs.

In families where survival was the primary focus, emotional attunement wasn't always available. Love arrived through sacrifice and provision, not through being truly seen. Over time, this shapes how you see yourself: someone who earns connection, who performs their worth, who doesn't quite know how to simply exist.

Complex PTSD from this kind of chronic relational environment can look like perfectionism, people-pleasing, difficulty trusting your own emotions, or a persistent sense of not belonging anywhere, not fully here, not fully there. Therapy offers a space to grieve what wasn't given, understand what was inherited, and slowly build a relationship with yourself that isn't conditional.

Somatic IFS & Parts Work

For those who sense different parts of themselves in conflict: the part that wants to rest and the part that never stops pushing; the part that longs for closeness and the part that always pulls away.

Parts Work Self Leadership Inner Critic Protectors & Exiles Nervous System Embodied Healing

Internal Family Systems understands the psyche as made up of many parts, each with its own perspective, its own history, and its own role it learned to play to keep you safe. The part that criticizes you harshly. The part that shuts down when things get too close. The part that still carries the pain of something that happened long ago. None of these parts are your enemy. They are trying to protect something tender.

Somatic IFS adds the dimension of the body to this work. We don't just think about your parts; we notice where they live in you. A tightness in the chest. A heaviness in the shoulders. A held breath. The body holds what the mind sometimes can't articulate, and learning to listen to it is one of the most profound forms of self-knowledge there is.

This work invites the deepest part of you, what IFS calls the Self, to lead. Not by suppressing or managing your parts, but by turning toward them with genuine curiosity and care. Over time, this shifts the entire inner landscape: less internal war, more spaciousness. Less performing, more simply being.

My Approach

How I work

I hold as fundamental that every person deserves to feel genuinely met. My approach to psychotherapy is rooted in presence: the belief that healing unfolds in the quality of the space between therapist and client. I practice with a deep attunement to the body, drawing on somatic awareness to help clients reconnect with the wisdom held in their nervous systems, not just their narratives.

Alongside this, I bring a profound commitment to deep listening, not simply hearing words, but attending to the subtle rhythms of affect, silence, and sensation that often carry what language cannot. I approach each person with the conviction that being truly seen and accepted is itself transformative; I strive to meet each client with warmth, curiosity, and an unwavering sense of their inherent worth.

I also hold cultural context as an essential lens, recognizing that our histories, identities, and communities shape how we experience ourselves, our pain, and what healing can look like. Whether working across language, culture, or lived experience, I create a therapeutic relationship that feels genuinely safe, attuned, and affirming of the whole person.

Somatic

Listening to the body as much as the mind, grounding insight in felt, embodied experience.

Depth

Looking beneath symptoms to uncover the emotional truths and protective patterns that drive them.

Relational

Healing as co-created, warm, real, and built on genuine human connection.

Integrative

Drawing from Somatic IFS, EMDR, and somatic therapy to meet you exactly where you are.

Certifications & Training

Somatic Embodiment & Regulation (SER) Certificate, body-based trauma approach
Psychodynamic Gestalt Training Two-year post-graduate training
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) New York & New Jersey

EMDR Therapy

Healing the nervous system
at its roots

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a well-researched, evidence-based therapy that helps the brain complete its natural processing of traumatic memories that have become "stuck" and continue to cause distress.

"EMDR therapy doesn't require you to talk in detail about a distressing event; it works with the body's own healing mechanisms."

— EMDR International Association

What does EMDR treat?

EMDR is effective for PTSD, complex trauma, anxiety, phobias, grief, performance anxiety, and more. It is recognized by the APA, WHO, and VA as a first-line treatment for trauma.

What does a session feel like?

Sessions begin with establishing safety and understanding your history. During processing, you'll hold a distressing memory in mind while engaging in bilateral stimulation (eye movements or tapping). Many people describe sessions as surprisingly gentle.

How many sessions will I need?

Single-incident traumas often resolve in 8–12 sessions. Complex or developmental trauma may take longer. We'll move at a pace that feels safe and supportive for you.

Do I have to talk about the trauma in detail?

No. EMDR is unique in that it does not require detailed verbal processing of the traumatic event. This makes it accessible for people who find talk therapy re-traumatizing.

Is EMDR only for trauma?

Not at all. EMDR can be used for anxiety, depression, negative self-beliefs, grief, and any experience that left an emotional imprint. It works wherever the nervous system is holding distress.

Fees & Insurance

Use your out-of-network benefits

I'm an out-of-network provider, which means I don't bill insurance directly. Instead, I provide a monthly superbill, a detailed receipt you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Many PPO plans reimburse a significant portion of each session, often 50–80% once your deductible is met. Through Thrizer, you can check your out-of-network benefits in about a minute, with no commitment.

$250

Per 50-minute session

Out-of-network

PPO plans often reimburse 50–80%

Monthly superbill

Ready to submit to your insurer

For some insurance plans, Thrizer can also submit your reimbursement claims to insurance for you, so you don't have to file superbills yourself. And for a small fee, you can pay only your expected share upfront instead of the full session fee, with Thrizer collecting the rest from your insurance.

Prefer to call? Questions to ask your insurance

Call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask about your out-of-network outpatient mental health benefits. It helps to have a pen ready.

Do I have out-of-network benefits for outpatient mental health (psychotherapy)?
What is my out-of-network deductible, and how much of it have I already met this year?
After my deductible, what percentage of each session do you reimburse?
Is reimbursement based on the provider's fee, or on an “allowed amount”? What is the allowed amount for CPT code 90834 (individual psychotherapy)?
Is there a limit on the number of sessions per year?
Do I need pre-authorization or a referral?
Are telehealth (video) sessions covered at the same rate?
How do I submit a superbill, and how long does reimbursement usually take?

Tip: write down the date, the representative's name, and the call reference number, in case you need it later.

You've spent your wholelife adapting.Here, you don't have to.