Coco Yu

Coco (she/her) is an art therapist dedicated to culturally responsive and socially conscious care. She identifies as a Chinese immigrant, a woman of color, and an artist. Born and raised in China, her migration journey includes two periods of immigration, first to South Africa and later to California in 2017, which deeply informs her understanding of identity, belonging, and cross-cultural lived experience. Coco is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT) and an ATR-P. She earned her master's degree in art therapy and Marriage and Family Therapy from the Dominican University of California and is currently pursuing a PhD in Art Therapy. As an artist before becoming a therapist, Coco was inspired by the psychological depth of the creative process and its natural therapeutic impact. She is passionate about helping individuals explore their creative identities, gain self-understanding, and live more intentional, expressive lives through art.

Coco’s therapeutic approach is integrative, empowering, and client centered. Her work is grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC), somatic and trauma-informed practices, and culturally responsive, social justice-oriented care. She brings a therapeutic presence that is empowering, direct, playful, and reflective, while maintaining a safe and attuned space for exploration. Coco incorporates body-based awareness, mindfulness, and diverse art making processes—including drawing, painting, mixed media, and large-scale creative work—to support emotional regulation, meaning-making, and psychological flexibility.

Coco has clinical experience in school-based and community-based mental health settings, providing individual, group, and community art therapy services. While she has experience working with children, she is especially passionate about supporting teens, transitional-age youth, and adults. Coco is dedicated to serving BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ clients, high-achieving students and professionals, immigrants, and artists navigating complex internal and external pressures. Her clinical interests also include anxiety, trauma and complex trauma, transgenerational and immigration-related trauma, emotional regulation, identity exploration, perfectionism, academic and career pressures, cultural identity, depression, body image, self-esteem, attention and focus challenges, family dynamics, life transitions, loneliness, and neurodiversity. She is particularly attuned to the experiences of individuals balancing cultural expectations, achievement, and personal authenticity.

As both a clinician and researcher, Coco’s academic interests focus on ACT-informed somatic art therapy for wellbeing and chronic health experiences, as well as emerging research on the therapeutic effects of calligraphy for Chinese immigrant populations. She values art as a culturally meaningful and embodied form of healing that bridges personal narrative, heritage, and psychological growth.

When she is not providing sessions or engaging in creative and academic research, she enjoys rock climbing, yoga, window shopping, and exploring visually inspiring environments. She lives in Oakland with her partner and can often be found watching magical TV shows, latch-hooking a new rug, or enjoying her favorite comfort foods—sandwiches, noodles, and milk tea or something fruity and bubbly.

Coco is available to see individuals ages 4 and up at EBAT's Oakland office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Coco offers therapy in both English and Chinese.