Meet Peggy Loo, PhD
Founding Director, Clinical Supervisor, Licensed Psychologist (NY)
Specialties: anxiety, trauma, burnout and perfectionism, interracial relationship stress, and BIPOC mental health
Offering In-Person & Online Therapy
Getting to know Dr. Peggy Loo
How would you describe the way you work?
I enjoy working with high achieving professionals, working parents, and caregivers that often have little space or time to care for themselves. As a psychologist, I’ll teach you about how mood, trauma, or whatever tools I’m using works so you can deepen self-understanding and feel empowered. I’d describe myself as collaborative, curious, and highly conversational in session. I love to laugh with my patients, and I balance encouragement, self-discovery, and gentle challenge.
In sessions, I focus on helping you make insightful connections and foster actionable change - so you can let go of what's not working and strengthen what does. We may tackle something you’re struggling with in the present, or sometimes I'll encourage us to unpack key past experiences or unresolved traumas that may be keeping you stuck. We may practice new skills for strong emotions and self-criticism or restore trust in your body’s cues and instincts. I often help people understand their reactions to relationship dynamics in their personal or professional life with compassion and take realistic steps towards a life rooted in your hopes and values.
How do you approach identity and culture as a therapist?
As your therapist, I’ll treat your identities with respect, care, and acceptance. What makes you, you (e.g., racial, spiritual, gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, age, nationality, class, etc) fundamentally shapes your life experiences - so it’s a thread through your story I listen for.
I’m a second-generation Taiwanese American therapist, which means I was born and raised in the US by immigrant parents who were born and raised in Taiwan. Because of my personal experiences and training, I'm sensitive to the unique challenges of the immigrant experience, cross-cultural family dynamics, and bicultural identity. I'll always be open to talking about minority stress, complicated feelings about your identity, or the challenges of cross cultural relationships. A fun fact: my dissertation research was on interracial romantic relationships, so I have a soft spot for supporting interracial partners.
As someone dedicated to multicultural and liberation psychology, I’m passionate about equity and healing for all from experiences of oppression (e.g., sexism, racism, xenophobia) as a path to individual and collective health. I’m deeply invested in BIPOC mental health and dedicated to helping people from AAPI communities destigmatize therapy. My hope is that you feel comfortable to share and be yourself, knowing that I'm ready to listen, affirm, and dive in.
What can you help me with?
Anger
Anxiety (e.g., generalized anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, health anxiety)
Caregiver stress (e.g., caring for the chronically ill, mentally ill, and parentified adult children)
Egg freezing
Grief (e.g., bereavement, unresolved childhood experiences)
Interracial and intercultural relationship dynamics/challenges
Interpersonal dynamics (e.g., family relationships, friendships, coworkers)
Multicultural identity (e.g., racial, gender, bicultural, 2nd gen, LGBTQ, and spirituality concerns)
Mindfulness
Pregnancy and postpartum (e.g., pregnancy anxiety, postpartum return to work)
Relationship stress (e.g., conflict or communication skills, breakups, dating in NYC, marriage dynamics)
Trauma (e.g., emotional abuse, childhood neglect, C-PTSD, racial or religious trauma)
Work stress and burnout (e.g., physicians in high-intensity specialties, senior leadership, PhD students)
What types of therapy do you use?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT)
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Multicultural Therapy
Psychodynamic Therapy
Relational Cultural Therapy
Rumination Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT)
Trauma-Informed Therapy
What’s your session fee?
I am an out of network provider and my fee ranges from $325-375/session. As a psychologist committed to equitable access to therapy, I have a small number of sliding scale spots that you can ask about.
Background & Professional Training
Peggy Loo, PhD earned a PhD and a master’s degree from Columbia University in counseling psychology, where she trained with leaders in the field of multicultural psychology. In addition to being well versed in trauma-focused therapies and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, she incorporates mindfulness, neuroscience, and active teaching about how mental health works in session. Dr. Loo is a certified perinatal mental health professional (PMH-C) through Postpartum Support International and completed additional trauma training from the Embody Lab and the Trauma Research Foundation.
Dr. Loo is a clinical supervisor for postdoctoral fellows at Manhattan Therapy Collective and psychology grad students at Columbia. She is on the advisory board for SPEAK, a non-profit organization elevating Asian American mental health in Westchester County. She is also a member of the NYC Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Association, the Asian American Psychological Association, and the Women’s Mental Heath Consortium. Her views have been featured in media outlets like Well+Good, Forbes Health, Real Simple, and the New York Times. Dr. Loo loves to bring her dog Hamilton to work, hike, watch stand-up comedy, and anything pickled.
