Koyun (Alice) Chi, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who was raised biculturally in both the United States and Taiwan. As a trilingual (English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish) therapist, she completed her bachelor’s degree at Rice University and her master’s and doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University. Dr. Chi went on to complete her predoctoral residency at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Chi has a breadth of experiences from her work in inpatient and outpatient hospitals, community mental health clinics, and university college counseling. Prior to moving to Arizona, she worked as a supervising psychologist at The Ohio State University where she provided individual and group therapy to students, consultation to faculty/staff, and clinical training to psychology graduate students. She also collaborated with Apple to develop the new Ohio State Wellness app that helps students increase their mental health awareness, build healthy habits, and navigate support resources on campus and in the community. Currently, Dr. Chi is also a tenured faculty at Phoenix College teaching undergraduate students in the counseling department.
Dr. Chi is particularly interested in the intersection between family, culture, and identity expression. Her areas of expertise and interest include depression, anxiety, body image, disordered eating, grief and loss, couples and relationships, trauma (including generational and racial trauma), multicultural identity formation, and LGBTQ+ identities. Dr. Chi approaches therapy from a compassionate psychodynamic perspective, honoring the importance of one’s cultural and developmental upbringing. From a person-centered and attachment framework, she incorporates techniques from various treatment modalities, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and mindfulness-based somatic practices. Dr. Chi is devoted to helping individuals, couples, and families build deeper relationship connections through safe, honest, and affirming conversations. She deeply values the therapeutic relationship as an avenue for working with the present moment to create growth and change.
Dr. Chi is committed to various dimensions of wellness in her personal life. To keep her spine, lungs, and heart healthy, she dances salsa as a lead and as a follow, swims laps at the local pool, and practices yoga asana at home. Dr. Chi also loves playing board games, cooking, eating, resting, and catching up with friends and family on the phone who are across continents and time zones. Whether you are considering therapy for the first time or are familiar with the process, Dr. Chi welcomes you just as you are and looks forward to building a safe, collaborative space for your therapeutic journey.
