Hanwen Wang, LPC, LMHC, Mental Health Clinician

Hanwen (she/her) is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor at Joy

Hanwen (she/her) is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor of Joy Mental Fitness, which has locations in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Boston, Massachusetts. Hanwen also provides telehealth services to patients throughout New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Hanwen is bilingual, proficient in both English and Chinese Mandarin.

My Personal Journey

Growing up in a competitive environment, my sensitivity to failure, determination to achieve goals, and countless internalized expectations once left me in turmoil. When I uprooted my life to move to the US from China, despite appearing to be steadily progressing step by step, I struggled internally to find meaning and stability. Mindfulness saved me when I felt helpless due to my inability to control or predict the future and felt shame about facing my vulnerability and fears. When I no longer fight against my worries but truly face them and accept them as they are, without mixing in self-censorship and judgments, I find that the intensity of mental or physical pain is not as strong as I originally thought. It's like being in a foggy forest, where we vaguely see the terrifying silhouette of a monster. Yet as we can see clearer through mindfulness practices, the fog dissipates, revealing that the monster in the forest is actually just a little dog. Being mindful allowed me to appreciate every present moment, knowing when to refocus when my thinking mind is trying to trap me in the same repetitive, pain-provoking thoughts. This is the mindset I would like to bring into the sessions: To simply be present with everything you can feel, before allowing yourself to then turn towards what matters the most in life.

Clinical Approach

I use a combination of approaches from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and Person-Centered Therapy to help clients contact their true selves in a safe space. I believe in the power of emotional corrective experiences that can rise from the therapeutic alliance and can be the one to hold space and help you understand your pain. Rooted in a culturally sensitive and trauma-informed perspective, I aim to understand your experiences by exploring all aspects of your identity comprehensively and make sense of your internal experiences in a compassionate way. Specifically, I focus on increasing psychological flexibility to overcome any preoccupation with the past or future and promoting behaviors that serve one’s core values to provide a sense of meaning and fulfillment. I respect individuals of all races, ethnicities, genders, sexualities, ages, and religions and look forward to embarking on a healing journey with you, one human being to another.