Charlene Zhen (she/her)

I'm a psychodynamic therapist in New York City. I work with people who've spent their lives being capable, meeting expectations, and showing up for others, and somewhere along the way lost touch with themselves. On the surface you appear capable and successful. Underneath, you feel anxious, burnt out, or disconnected. You move from one achievement to the next without pausing to feel satisfied, and when there's no clear next goal, you feel aimless.

Some of my clients are late-diagnosed neurodivergent adults, finally making sense of a lifetime of masking. Some are Asian Americans and adult children of immigrants, often the eldest daughter, navigating family pressure and cultural expectations. Some are couples, including interracial and mixed neurotype couples, working out how these patterns show up between them.

My approach is psychodynamic, culturally informed, and reflective. We explore how family dynamics, cultural context, and early experiences shaped you, and how those patterns still shape your relationships and choices now. As they become clearer, you get a stronger sense of what you actually want, and more freedom to say it to the people in your life.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent eight years in tech startups in San Francisco, including senior leadership roles. I saw firsthand the perfectionism and pressure to perform that come with those environments. I hold a Master of Social Work from Columbia University, and my clinical training includes both individual and couples therapy with a focus on psychodynamic and psychoanalytic approaches.