Meet our newest clinician, Bomly!
Help us welcome Bomly Tsuen, M.Ed., NCSP, LCMHCA to Carolina Psychological Associates!
We are thrilled to have Bomly join us in the Chapel Hill office. She sees children, adolescents and adults and has over 9 years experience providing assessments to adolescents with various learning differences. Her specialty has a wide range, including anxiety, depression, relationship and communication, adjustment, life stage transition, parenting, time management, and stress reduction.
Continue reading to learn more about Bomly!
What brought you to the mental health field?
That is a great question! Since I was a kid, I’ve always enjoyed listening to people and hearing about their fascinating personal stories. I was especially intrigued when people shared their thoughts about things, what they are going through, how they are feeling, and their past experiences. I guess it makes sense that I am now a professional listener!
What is your education history?
(Regarding my M.Ed. and NCSP credentials) I am an English Language Learner; when I was very young, I attended school in Hong Kong for a year before my family moved to the Northeast. I couldn’t speak English at all for the first couple of years I was in the United States. Fortunately, I had great elementary school teachers and administrators who looked out for me, and my parents were huge supporters of my education. I also had a great group of friends who looked out for me. I graduated high school, went to college (majoring in psychology), and then went back for more school. I graduated from UNC-CH’s School Psychology Specialist’s program in 2012. Soon after, I applied to be a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) and obtained those credentials.
(Regarding my LCMHCA credentials) During my internship year in another state, I was able to do therapy and testing at my assigned schools. However, upon returning to North Carolina, I had very little time to do therapy in the schools I served. Therefore, I decided to pursue a counseling license in order to continue to provide therapy outside of the school setting.
How would you best describe your therapeutic approach?
Because there are pros and cons to each approach, I generally select techniques from a diverse set of therapeutic models—depending on what is most suitable for each of my clients. Like a strong teacher who would differentiate instruction based on each student’s strengths and needs, I choose the most appropriate strategies from several therapeutic models to cater to my client’s strengths and needs.
What population of clients do you serve? Why that group?
Having served as a school psychologist in many public school systems for over 9 years, and over 1.5 years in private practice, I have worked with a very diverse set of individuals (e.g., race, gender, age, sexual orientation, intellectual and achievement abilities, socioeconomic status). And a common, foundational issue I’ve discovered is that our social relationships are essential to our health and wellness. I have had the most success empowering gifted children, as well as adolescents and adults, who experience issues with self-esteem, anxiety, depression, stress with school/work life, and social/communication skills. It’s incredibly rewarding to empower members of the community with the skillsets necessary for developing healthy relationships with themselves as well as with others.
Did you recently move to the Chapel Hill Area? If so, where did you move from?
Not recently. I’ve been in the triangle for a long time—since I moved here for college.
What are you looking forward to most about being a part of the CPA family?
Oh, this is a tough question to choose just one thing. I try to support local businesses as much as I can–whether I’m at home or traveling—so, it only makes sense that I am thrilled to be part of a local practice! Moreover, I really love the energy CPA radiates! Everyone has been so kind, knowledgeable, insightful, helpful, and supportive. If I HAD to choose, I would say I’m most excited about being part of the CPA family because of the opportunity to work amongst the many passionate and skillful, yet humble, clinicians.
What is something that you enjoy doing for fun?
I have a pretty eclectic range of interests! I love SUP/kayaking, baking, dancing, making lip balms and cream blushes, watching anime, traveling, and sometimes just watching TV with my cat. 😊
Share a fun fact about yourself!
When I was a kid, I did not understand the concept of being “tired” and would always think, “Why do adults keep using that word when they don’t want to play anymore?” Then my mom would tell me I have the energy/spirit of a monkey (in my culture, monkeys symbolize cleverness and high energy playfulness). And I would always wish for a pet monkey, so I could have someone to run around and play with me all of the time. Nonstop.