Carlsbad or Online
Dr. Naomi Wu
Licensed Psychologist | Young Adults & Life Transitions | she/her
Figuring out who you are is not a phase you pass through once. I work with teens, young adults, and adults sitting with identity, belonging, grief, and the transitions that quietly rearrange a life, and I bring a relational, somatic, and culturally attuned approach to all of it.
A short introduction
About Dr. Wu
Dr. Naomi Wu is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY36209) at Coastal Therapy Group’s Carlsbad office, working with teens, young adults, and adults on identity, belonging, grief, and the transitions that reshape a life. She holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology (PsyD) from George Fox University, completed her APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at California State University San Marcos’s Student Health and Counseling Center, and her postdoctoral fellowship at Coastal Therapy Group. As an Asian American therapist of Japanese and Taiwanese descent, she brings a multicultural perspective to her work, drawing on relational, humanistic, attachment-based, and somatic approaches. She sees clients in person in Carlsbad and online throughout California.
In her own words
Life is full of paradoxes
Life is full of paradoxes: hope and suffering, aliveness and grief, flourishing and fear. I believe something fuller opens up when we learn to hold those complexities rather than push them away. Building language for what we feel, deepening our capacity to be vulnerable, reconnecting mind and body: that’s the foundation of healing, both with ourselves and with the people around us. You are worthy of experiencing life’s vibrancy and abundance.
How she works
About my approach
Seeking out therapy can feel like a big step, and I want you to know that whatever brings you here is welcome and I’m proud of your bravery to be here. Our view of ourselves, others, and the world is shaped by early relationships and the cultural contexts we grew up in. When those relationships and environments weren’t safe or secure, we can internalize messages about being unworthy or unlovable, and those messages show up in ways we don’t always recognize, such as uncomfortable emotions and tension within us.
As a licensed psychologist in Carlsbad, I work from a relational, humanistic, and somatic approach. I deeply care about creating a space where your experiences and stories are validated, your internal wisdom is honored, and all parts of you are welcomed. I draw from attachment-based, somatic, and culturally sensitive modalities because I believe healing happens not just in the mind but in the body and in relationship with ourselves, others, and the greater world. Somatic work helps us notice where we hold tension, grief, and emotion physically, and learning to listen to those signals is often where real change begins.
When I say all parts of you are welcome, I mean that fairly literally. My work is informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the parts framework it comes out of, which starts from the idea that we are made up of many parts rather than one uniform self. The part of you that pushes hard, the part that shuts down, the part that criticizes before anyone else gets the chance: none of them are the problem, and each of them showed up for a reason, usually a protective one. Getting to know them with curiosity instead of judgment is often where self-compassion actually begins, not as something you talk yourself into but as something you build by relating to yourself differently.
I offer free 15-minute phone consultations if you’d like to talk about whether we’re a good fit, and discuss how I may best support you and your needs.
Book a Free ConsultationIdentity & cultural exploration
Therapy for identity and cultural exploration
Cultivating a sense of self is a constant, ebbing and flowing process. It can be isolating when you straddle different cultures, trying to find where you belong but never feeling fully welcomed, understood, or at home. As an Asian American therapist of Japanese and Taiwanese descent, I know that experience personally. It shapes how I show up in the room and what I listen for.
Working from a multicultural perspective, I pay attention to how the intersection of your cultural background, social context, and personal history shapes who you are and how you move through the world. I especially enjoy working with young adults who are exploring identity, navigating life transitions, and working toward a more value-aligned life. I have particular experience working with women of color navigating how their multiple identities shape their personal and relational lives.
If you’ve been looking for an in-person or online therapist in Carlsbad or North County San Diego who understands what it means to carry multiple cultural worlds at once, I’d be honored to connect with you.
Grief & loss
Grief that gets to move at its own pace
Grief doesn’t follow a timeline, and it doesn’t always look the way people expect. You might be mourning a person, a relationship, a version of yourself, or a future that didn’t happen. Sometimes grief shows up as numbness, withdrawal, or a heaviness you can’t quite name. It can be difficult living in a grief-adverse world that does not hold much tolerance for loss and death. However it’s showing up for you, it deserves space.
As a grief therapist in Carlsbad, I work with people who are sitting with loss and trying to figure out what comes next. I don’t rush the process or impose a framework for how grief is supposed to go. Instead, I help you build language for what you’re feeling, reconnect with your body when grief lives there physically, and find your way toward integration and meaning without being told to “move on.”
If you’re carrying grief and looking for someone who will sit with you in it rather than try to fix it, I’d be happy to connect with you.
Ways to work together
Where Dr. Wu’s work tends to focus
Every relationship starts the same way, with a free 15-minute phone consultation. What follows depends on who you are and what you are carrying.
The foundation. Ongoing individual work, in person at our Carlsbad office or online anywhere in California, for teens, young adults, and adults.
How this therapy works →Work with teenagers finding their footing in identity, family expectations, and belonging. Much of the early work is simply earning the trust that makes the harder conversations possible.
About teen therapy →For people mourning a person, a relationship, a version of themselves, or a future that did not happen. Relational and somatic, at the pace grief actually moves.
About grief therapy →Sessions by video for anyone in California, useful for students away at school, people between cities, and anyone for whom a drive to Carlsbad is the thing standing in the way.
About online therapy →Credentials as a Psychologist
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist, California PSY36209
- Post-doctoral Fellowship, Coastal Therapy Group
- Pre-doctoral Internship, California State University San Marcos, Student Health and Counseling Center (APA Accredited)
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (PsyD), George Fox University (APA Accredited)
- Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology (MA), George Fox University (APA Accredited)
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (BA), Biola University
Areas of Specialized Experience
Before you reach out
Questions clients tend to ask first
Everyone tells me this stage of life is supposed to be hard. Is it still worth coming to therapy?
Yes, and "normal" and "worth attention" are not opposites. A lot of the people I see are functioning: they have the job, the degree, the relationship, and still feel unmoored, behind, or like they are performing a version of themselves. You do not need a diagnosis or a crisis to make good use of this. If something about this stretch feels heavier than it should, that is reason enough.
Do you work with teenagers?
I do, alongside young adults and adults. With teens, a lot of the early work is simply earning trust: showing them this is their space and not a place they are being fixed or reported on. Once that is there, the conversations about identity, family expectations, and belonging tend to follow on their own.
Do you work with grief?
Yes. Grief is one of my primary areas of focus. I work with people mourning a person, a relationship, a version of themselves, or a future that didn't happen. I take a relational and somatic approach, helping you build language for what you're feeling and reconnect with your body when grief shows up physically.
Are you an Asian American therapist?
Yes. I'm a psychologist of Japanese and Taiwanese descent. My cultural background is central to how I practice, and I bring that perspective to my work with all clients, not only those from Asian or Asian American backgrounds. If that is specifically what you are looking for, our Asian American therapists page introduces the rest of the team as well.
What is somatic therapy?
Somatic therapy pays attention to how emotions and experiences live in the body, not just the mind. I incorporate somatic practices into my work because our bodies often hold what words can't yet express. This might look like noticing tension, learning to regulate your nervous system, or simply building more awareness of what your body is telling you.
Do you use Internal Family Systems or parts work?
My work is IFS-informed, and I want to be straightforward that I am not an IFS-certified therapist. In practice it means we treat the different parts of you, the one that pushes, the one that withdraws, the one that criticizes first, as understandable rather than as flaws to get rid of. Much of what people call self-compassion grows out of that shift. If formal, protocol-driven IFS is specifically what you are after, tell me on the consultation call and I will give you an honest answer about fit.
Where is your office?
I see clients at Coastal Therapy Group's Carlsbad office, at 2564 State Street, Suite B. I also offer online therapy for anyone located in California.
What does a session cost, and do you take insurance?
Coastal Therapy Group is a private-pay practice, and individual sessions across the practice run $230 to $300. Many clients with PPO plans are reimbursed for a meaningful share of that, and we generate the monthly superbill you submit. Current rates and the full reimbursement walkthrough are on our Cost + Info page.
Do you do psychological testing or evaluations?
Not personally. My work is therapy. If what you actually need is a formal evaluation, for ADHD, autism, or a diagnostic question, our psychological testing team handles that, and I am happy to point you there on the consultation call.
What is the first step?
A free 15-minute phone consultation. We talk about what brings you here and whether I am the right fit, and if I am not, I would rather help you find the person who is. From there we usually get a first full session booked within a week.
Recent essays by Dr. Wu
- Beyond Nervous System Regulation: What Happens When We Look DeeperOctober 21, 2026
- Working with an Asian American Therapist: What Cultural Understanding Can Make PossibleOctober 6, 2026
- Therapy for PMDD and Premenstrual Distress: What It Can and Cannot DoSeptember 29, 2026
- When “It’s Just Your Period” Isn’t the Whole StorySeptember 16, 2026