I’m Dr. Huong Diep (pronounced Hong Depp), a Board-Certified Clinical Psychologist and Certified Financial Therapist™.
My work is grounded in clinical psychology, trauma treatment, family systems, developmental psychology, and financial psychology. Over time, I became increasingly interested in how themes like security, achievement, caregiving, responsibility, guilt, and self-worth also show up in people’s financial lives.
That led me to pursue additional training in financial psychology. Today, I bring that lens into therapy when it is relevant, whether money is the primary concern or simply one part of a larger story.
My Perspective:
My work is shaped by both professional training and lived experience.
I am the eldest daughter of Vietnamese refugees, a first-generation college graduate, and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. My family history includes migration, entrepreneurship, economic disruption, rebuilding, and upward mobility across generations.
Those experiences shaped my understanding that beliefs about success, security, responsibility, and “enough” are often influenced by family history and culture, not just individual choice.
I have also lived, worked, and traveled across more than 50 countries and have extensive experience with U.S. Foreign Service and globally mobile communities. I am fluent in English and Spanish and conversational in Vietnamese.
How I Work:
My style is thoughtful, collaborative, and direct.
I am interested not only in what a person is experiencing, but in what may be driving it underneath: earlier experiences, family roles, cultural expectations, nervous-system responses, and internal conflicts.
My approach is informed by family systems, trauma-informed psychotherapy, developmental psychology, Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, and financial psychology.
I do not see therapy as telling people who they should become. My role is to help clients better understand what has shaped them, become less constrained by patterns that no longer fit, and make choices with greater flexibility and intention.
Training and credentials:
Licenses and Certifications:
Licensed Psychologist in California, Nevada, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington, DC
Board Certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology
Certified Financial Therapist™, Financial Therapy Association
Education and Training
BA Psychology/Spanish, UCLA
MA and PsyD, Clinical Psychology at the University of Denver, with an emphasis in International Disaster Psychology
APA-accredited predoctoral internship and two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
