Nancy Nguyen

Biography

I am a native of Southern California, specifically Orange County California. I am the daughter of two Vietnamese immigrants, my father arriving here after the fall of Saigon in 1975, while my mother is a Vietnamese boat person. I consider myself bicultural, being fluent in both English and Vietnamese and balancing my Vietnamese heritage with growing up in the United States. As an example of the bicultural influence, I grew up eating my spaghetti with chopsticks.

I graduated from CSU Fullerton with a B.S. in Human Services and a minor in Criminal Justice with Magna Cum Laude honors. I followed my undergraduate studies with an M.S. in Counseling at CSU Fullerton and earned my PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision at Pennsylvania State University.

My clinical experiences ranged from working with children and their families in school and community mental health clinics to a variety of individual needs of college students and adults, including depression, anxiety, trauma, PTSD, eating disorders, and substance abuse/dependence. I completed clinical work in different settings, including the Orange County (OC) HeadStart preschool program, Western Youth Services community mental health clinic, CEDAR clinic at Penn State University, OC HealthCare Agency Adult Mental Health services, and ChildNet Youth and family services. All included individual, family, and group counseling.

The aforementioned experiences have built on my training in evidenced-based practices, which encompass Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Integrative Complex Trauma Treatment, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). As a practitioner, I specialize in working with the Vietnamese American population and have a passion for practitioner-based research and counseling services within this underserved population. I have also pioneered culturally responsive modifications to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Vietnamese American families while training other clinicians. In addition, I created a supervision group for a Vietnamese American group of interns, psychologists, and clinicians to provide ethnic specific services, program development, and peer mentoring.

While at Penn State, I was also part of an international collaboration called “Counseling without Borders” with Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey to provide a cultural exchange on counselor education. I was honored to come back to CSU Fullerton to teach courses in the Human Services and Counseling programs from which I graduated in 2012.

Using my experience, I built my practice from the ground-up in Orange County. My practice, which started in 2015, focuses on providing culturally responsive therapy to Asian Americans.

My future research includes a focus on children’s mental health, diversifying counselor education, and international aspects of counselor education. My passion is to focus research on improving access and outreach to underserved populations in counseling and underrepresented populations in counselor education, along with fostering curiosity and passion in my students on their research interests. This research includes my dissertation on Vietnamese American family’s perceptions of children’s mental health, how culture impacts utilization of mental health services using a case study approach with phenomenological aspects that incorporated participant narratives.

Degrees Earned

Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision – (CACREP- Accredited) – The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
M.S. in Counseling – (CACREP- Accredited) – California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA.
B.S. in Human Services, Minor in Criminal Justice – California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA.
LMFT – Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, California
PhD Counselor Education and Supervision

Courses Taught

COUN 614 Methods and Practice of Research and Evaluation
COUN 640 Supervision Practicum
COUN 641 Supervised Internship I
COUN 642 Supervised Internship II
COUN 607 Social and Cultural Foundations
COUN 601 Human Growth and Development
COUN 631 Counseling Children and Adolescents

Additional Certifications

Parent Child Interaction Therapist and Trainer

Professional Memberships

Chi Sigma Iota Counseling Honor Society
CA Association of Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors
CA Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
American Counseling Association
Association of Counselor Education and Supervision

Specialized Practice Areas

Marriage
Couples and Families
Children and Adolescents
Play and Sandtray Therapy

Publications

LA Times article: https://www.latimes.com/projects/vietnamese-mental-health-guide-therapy/

Presentations

Nguyen, N., Redinger, A., & Alvarez, E. (2023, October). Addressing anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) hate in session: Practical implications for counselors. General presentation presented at California Association of Licensed Professional Counselors. University of San Diego, California.

Nguyen, N., Redinger, A., & Alvarez, E. (2023, October). Perinatal mental health for postpartum counselors. Discussion presentation presented at California Association of Licensed Professional Counselors. University of San Diego, California.

Torii, L. & Nguyen, N. (2023, October). Reimagining counseling with transition age foster youth and social emotional learning. Poster presentation presented at California Association of Licensed Professional Counselors. University of San Diego, California.

Trainings Received

Post Partum PTSD training

Community Involvement

Chartered CUI Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota and Chapter Faculty Advisor, Insightful Resources Non Profit Counseling Center Board of Directors, Asian American Pacific Islander Advisory Board