“As you embrace your entire self, the beautiful and the ugly, the light and the shadow, and learn to hold space for your joy and sorrow, you will begin to truly love yourself unconditionally, and you will find a natural flow in life.”
—Mei Thompson, MS, LMHC, NCC, LPC-Associate
Mei offers both in-person and virtual therapy in Washington as well as online therapy in Texas.
Mei Thompson is a licensed mental health counselor who has been seeing clients since 2020. She joined OptimalLife Wellness in October 2023. Mei is bilingual and offers therapy in both English and Mandarin. Mei grew up in China. During her adolescent years, she saw the lack of mental health awareness around her and saw how much people suffered from not getting the help they needed, including herself. This inspired Mei to learn about psychology and start her own healing journey, eventually finding her passion in guiding those who are hurting or lost.
Mei works with clients of diverse ages, identities, and backgrounds as well as a broad range of challenges. In addition to helping clients who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and grief, she has helped clients in a domestic violence shelter work through their trauma of abuse, veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, college students navigating through career choices and relationships, and immigrants who are having a hard time adapting to a new culture. She believes no two persons’ situations are the same. She guides each client to find the uniqueness and deeper meaning in their journey.
The quote, “Shame dies when stories are told in a safe environment,” resonates with Mei. She believes that building a safe and genuine relationship with clients is essential in facilitating healing. Relating to others empathetically and genuinely has always been Mei’s nature, and she brings this to her counseling sessions. She believes that when clients recognize their own strength and resilience, they discover a new potential within themselves.
She feels a special connection working with clients who identify as Highly Sensitive Persons (HSP). Mei considers herself highly sensitive and has a highly sensitive spouse. She is excited to use her knowledge and experience to help HSPs. In her sessions, Mei helps them work through often overlooked or misunderstood struggles. Her mission is to help fellow HSPs understand how to care for their unique needs, navigate the challenges, and embrace the beauty and strengths that come with sensitivity.
Mei also specializes in working with people who suffer from low self-esteem, attachment issues, or who have experienced childhood trauma. She finds facilitating inner child work to be an effective and rewarding way to work through those struggles.
She loves helping clients who experience acculturation issues, spiritual issues, and relationship issues as well as those who want to explore their identities. She believes the goal of therapy is not just to heal the mental health issues that clients experience, but also to develop self-awareness, step into self-empowerment, and achieve one’s full potential.
Clients often describe Mei’s counseling style as empathetic, warm, gentle, and intuitive. She uses a Gestalt therapy approach to help clients connect with their authentic selves, and she frequently incorporates bodywork and mindfulness in sessions. She offers dreamwork therapy if clients are interested in exploring the deeper meaning of their dreams.
In addition, Mei completed EMDR basic training in 2021 and is currently working toward certification. She is certified in Focusing Therapy (basic and advanced) by The International Focusing Institute and has training in Sandplay Therapy.
In her free time, Mei enjoys spending time exploring her inner world. She loves doing yoga, meditating, reading, attending cultural and art events, hiking, and taking her dog to dog parks. Mei practices yoga regularly and plans to become a yoga teacher in the future and incorporate yoga into her therapy work.
Mei earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Thai Language from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China. She completed her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of North Texas.