Meet Peggy Loo, PhD
Founding Director, Clinical Supervisor, Licensed Psychologist (NY & NJ)
Specialties: anxiety, trauma, infertility and perfectionism, interracial relationship stress, and BIPOC mental health
Offering In-Person & Online Therapy
Getting to know Dr. Peggy Loo
How would you describe the way you work?
I really enjoy working with high achieving professionals, working parents, and caregivers that often have little space or time to care for themselves. As a psychologist passionate about mental health literacy, I’ll teach you about how your mood, trauma, or whatever skills we’re trying out works so you can deepen self-understanding and feel empowered in therapy. I’d describe myself as collaborative, deliberately hopeful, and highly conversational in session. I love to laugh with my patients, and I balance encouragement, self-discovery, and gentle challenge.
In sessions, I’ll help you make insightful connections, get unstuck, and foster actionable change. We may tackle something you’re struggling with or avoiding in the present, or sometimes I'll encourage us to process past experiences or unresolved traumas so you can build a life based on what matters to you, and not be held back by what’s happened to you. I’ll help you slow down so you can notice your own patterns, feelings, and body instincts - and then we’ll decide what to do about it based on your goals and what it means for you to flourish. I often help people unpack relationship dynamics in their personal or professional lives with curiosity and compassion, and also prioritize taking realistic steps forward so ah-ha moments and intentional action go hand in hand.
Sometimes it’s really hard to imagine our lives different than what we’ve gotten used to, and it takes another person to help us see what’s possible. My hope is that together, we’ll face the symptoms, patterns, or traumas getting in your way - not just to bring you relief - but so we clear the way for the real work of growth and thriving.
How do you approach identity and culture as a therapist?
I’ll treat who you are with respect, acceptance, and care. I believe what makes you, you (your racial, spiritual, gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, age, class, neurodivergence, etc) is wonderful and fundamentally shapes your experiences (and how you’re treated in the world) - so it’s a key thread I listen for in all of your stories.
I’m a second-generation Taiwanese American therapist, which means I was born and raised in the US by immigrant parents who were born and raised in Taiwan. I’m interested in the unique challenges of the immigrant family experience and bicultural identity - and how it shapes the way you feel about yourself and others. I'll always be open to talking about your feelings about your identity, whether they’re positive or complex - and the ways that can get even more complicated in any relationship with someone different than yourself. A fun fact: my dissertation research was on interracial romantic relationships, so I have a soft spot for interracial partners. In addition to being invested in BIPOC mental health, I enjoy helping people (re)discover the strengths and meaning that can be found in their neurodivergent or spiritual identities - especially if they have experienced shame, hurt, or trauma in this area.
As someone dedicated to multicultural and liberation psychology, I believe naming and healing from oppression is an important part of mental health, and something I’ll talk about openly in session. My hope is that you feel comfortable to share and be your whole self with me, knowing that I'm ready to listen, affirm, and dive in.
What can you help me with?
Anger
ADHD (e.g., adult diagnosis adjustment, neurodivergent affirming strategies)
Anxiety (e.g., generalized anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, health anxiety)
Caregiver stress (e.g., caring for terminally ill or mentally ill family members, parentified adult children)
Egg freezing
Grief (e.g., bereavement, unresolved childhood experiences)
Interracial and intercultural relationship dynamics
Interpersonal dynamics (e.g., family relationships, friendships, coworkers)
Multicultural identity (e.g., racial, ethnicity, bicultural, 2nd gen, LGBTQ, matrescence, neurodivergence, and spirituality concerns)
Mindfulness
Pregnancy and postpartum (e.g., miscarriage anxiety, postpartum return to work, matrescence/maternal identity development and related challenges)
Relationship stress (e.g., conflict or communication skills, dating, marriage dynamics, navigating separation or divorce)
Trauma (e.g., childhood emotional abuse/neglect, C-PTSD, racial or religious trauma)
Work stress and burnout (e.g., physicians in high-intensity specialties, senior leadership, PhD students)
What types of therapy do you use?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT)
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Multicultural Therapy
Psychodynamic Therapy
Relational Cultural Therapy
Rumination Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RF-CBT)
Somatic Therapy
Trauma Therapy
What’s your session fee?
I am an out of network provider and my fee ranges from $350-400/session. As a psychologist committed to equitable access to therapy, I have a small number of sliding scale spots that you can ask about.
Our practice has partnered with Mentaya - a service that can check what out of network insurance benefits you have for therapy and provide an immediate estimate. Check here.
Education & Professional Training
Peggy Loo, PhD is the Founder and Clinical Director of Manhattan Therapy Collective. Dr. Loo earned a PhD and a master’s degree from Columbia University in counseling psychology, where she trained with leaders in the field of multicultural psychology. She also completed her bachelor’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois, and is a Midwestern transplant to NYC. In addition to being well versed in trauma-focused therapies and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, she incorporates mindfulness, neuroscience, and active teaching about how mental health works in session. Dr. Loo is a certified perinatal mental health professional (PMH-C) through Postpartum Support International and completed additional trauma training from the Embody Lab, the Trauma Research Foundation, and the The Center for Excellence in EMDR Therapy.
Dr. Loo is a clinical supervisor for postdoctoral fellows at Manhattan Therapy Collective and psychology grad students at Columbia. She is on the advisory board for SPEAK, a non-profit organization elevating Asian American mental health in Westchester County. She is also a member of the NYC Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Association, the Asian American Psychological Association, and the Women’s Mental Heath Consortium. Her views have been featured in media outlets like Well+Good, Forbes Health, Real Simple, and the New York Times. Dr. Loo loves to bring her dog Hamilton to work, hike, watch stand-up comedy, and (nearly) anything pickled.
