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The Insightful Collective Clinicians
Lai K. Chien, LMFT | Founder | Clinical Director
Lai (she/her) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the founder and Clinical Director of The Insightful Collective. Her work is rooted in cultural humility, harm reduction, and trauma-informed care. She specializes in supporting clients navigating identity development, intergenerational trauma, substance use, and life transitions, particularly within BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and neurodiverse communities.
Lai is trained in Brainspotting Levels I, II, and Expansion, as well as the Gottman Method Levels I and II. She draws from relational, somatic, and psychodynamic approaches to support deeper insight, healing, and meaningful change. Her style is collaborative, attuned, direct, and grounded in authenticity.
As Clinical Director, Lai also provides mentorship and clinical supervision to developing therapists and leads The Insightful Collective's work to expand access to culturally responsive mental health care. She is especially passionate about building clinical spaces where clients feel understood and clinicians have the support, autonomy, and resources to do thoughtful, sustainable work.
Charkeia Carroll, LMFT | Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
“Fall in love with healing yourself.”
Charkeia Carroll (she/her) believes that caring for yourself isn’t selfish. It’s essential. She helps clients reconnect with their sense of worth, safety, and belonging. With warmth and clinical skill, she creates a space where people can feel seen and supported as they navigate emotional challenges.
Charkeia has over a decade of experience supporting children, teens, young adults, adults, and families. Her work focuses on anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, personality disorders and other mental health disorders.
She holds a deep passion for working with youth and believes in the power of early emotional support. Her approach is affirming, grounded, and centered on each client’s unique strengths. Healing is possible, and Charkeia walks alongside her clients every step of the way.
Daniel Gradias, LMFT | Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Daniel Gradias, LMFT (he/him), is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist dedicated to providing affirming, trauma-informed care to individuals, couples, and families. He brings a deep commitment to cultural humility and a genuine curiosity about each person’s lived experience.
Daniel’s experience spans both residential treatment and private practice, where he has supported clients navigating complex trauma, identity exploration, anxiety, depression, and major life transitions. Daniel specialized in LGBT Affirmative Therapy during his Master's program, which inspired a particular dedication to serving queer and other marginalized communities.
Warm, direct, and collaborative, Daniel integrates psychodynamic therapy with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and EMDR, tailoring his approach to meet each client’s unique needs. He is committed to helping people feel seen, supported, and empowered to deepen their self-understanding and move toward meaningful change.
Daphne Ong, LMFT | Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist | Registered Drama Therapist
Daphne (she/her) believes that you are never too young to heal and never too old to play. She helps clients navigate difficult life experiences including relationship trauma, complex trauma, PTSD, surviving narcissistic abuse, and substance use. Her approach
is collaborative and culturally-attuned, centering each client’s own strengths and unique needs.
Her work has taken her through community mental health, inpatient care, and residential substance use treatment. In addition to evidence-based and trauma-informed care such as psychodynamic therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and EMDR, she also uses embodied and expressive methods such as drama therapy and psychodrama.
Daphne’s personally treasured values of curiosity, kindness, and connection inform her therapy work and how she moves through life. She deeply believes in the power of human connection to heal individuals and communities and provides an accepting space for each client to be their full, authentic self.
Paulina Barajas, AMFT | Associate Marriage & Family Therapist
Paulina Barajas, AMFT (She/Her) is a bilingual, trauma-focused Associate Marriage and Family Therapist dedicated to the healing of Oakland’s diverse communities. As a first-generation Latina, Paulina brings a lived understanding of the cultural and systemic barriers that often surround mental health care. She holds a sacred space specifically for young adults, students, first-gens, and cycle-breakers who are navigating the complexities of BIPOC identity.
Paulina’s therapeutic philosophy is grounded in liberation and social justice, moving beyond traditional models to welcome ancestral wisdom, community-based resourcing, and relational healing that honors the whole you. She specializes in addressing intergenerational trauma with a lens of curiosity and empathy, offering therapy in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.
Committed to the town that raised her, she is cultura-rooted and corazón-led dedicating to provide a trauma-informed space where compassion meets you where you are.
Supervised by Lai K. Chien, LMFT #143222
Join Us!
Join a team where your clinical voice is honored and your work makes a difference. We’re especially seeking therapists who are passionate about working with children and who bring a culturally attuned, BIPOC-affirming lens to their practice.