Depression and anxiety
Often with people who have already done a good deal of talk therapy and want to approach things another way.
San Francisco Bay Area · English & 中文
Music therapy for adults and young adults
I'm Sophia Wang, a board-certified music therapist. I use music, imagery and conversation in my work with depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, relationships and questions of identity.
In-person & Online in the San Francisco Bay Area · Online across the United States
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- Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC)
- MA Music Therapy, NYU
- 12+ Years Clinical
- English & Mandarin
- In Person & Online
What I help with
The concerns people bring to me most often
If what you're dealing with isn't listed here, it's still worth asking. The consultation is free.
Intergenerational and cultural trauma
What families carry across generations and don't discuss. I work in English and Mandarin, and I know these family patterns from the inside.
Recovering from a difficult relationship
Including relationships with a narcissistic partner, parent or employer, where a person's sense of their own judgment has been eroded.
Relationship patterns
Attachment, conflict, and the patterns that repeat despite being understood. Also the particular pressures of intercultural relationships.
Identity and life direction
Questions about culture, family expectation, career and belonging — common among people navigating more than one culture at once.
Grief and loss
Recent or long-standing. I spent a decade in oncology and palliative care, and I'm comfortable staying with grief that hasn't resolved.
How I work
Every session is music therapy, but sessions vary
Some sessions are entirely conversation. In others we listen to music together and you tell me what comes up. Sometimes we work with a full Guided Imagery and Music session, which is longer and goes further.
You don't play an instrument or sing, and you don't need any background in music. Most of the people I work with have none.
What happens in a session →
The approaches I draw on
- Psychodynamic — where a pattern began and what it has been protecting.
- Humanistic — the direction of the work comes from you.
- CBT and mindfulness, where they are useful.
Coming up
Groups and circles
Groups are a low-commitment way to try this work. Many of the people I now see individually came to a group first.
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About me
I worked in hospitals for a decade before opening this practice
Oncology, palliative care, psychiatry and rehabilitation — at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai, and in the Bay Area since.
That work is where I learned what music can do when talking has become difficult or isn't available. I was born in China and I practice in English and Mandarin.
Getting started
A free twenty-minute consultation by phone or video. We talk about what brings you here, and I'll tell you whether I think I can help.