About Dr. Poon

Joanna Poon, Psy.D.

I am a licensed psychologist practicing in Manhattan, New York City.

I earned my bachelor's in psychology from Boston University and my master's in school psychology and doctorate in clinical child psychology from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology in New York.

I have worked with adults, children, and adolescents in various clinical and educational settings, including Fordham University’s College Counseling Center, Maimonides Medical Center, NYC Health & Hospitals/Gouverneur, Montefiore’s Rose F. Kennedy Children’s Evaluation & Rehabilitation Center, Convent of the Sacred Heart, and Avenues: The World School. Additionally, I served as a committee member for the Early Career Professionals Domain of APA Division 29. Currently, I am a part-time staff psychologist at The New School’s Student Health Services.

I am fluent in English and Cantonese and can speak some Mandarin.

A personalized & integrative approach

No one person is the same. Everyone has their own unique emotional needs. My integrative treatment approach is individually tailored to prioritize your particular emotional needs. It includes approaches from:

  • Psychodynamic Therapy

  • Attachment Based Therapy

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

  • Prolonged Exposure Trauma Therapy (PE)

  • Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

  • Parent Management Therapy (PMT)

Therapeutic Style

I approach every therapeutic relationship with sincerity, openness, and warmth. Humans are complex creatures. Our minds sometimes can be filled with emotional blind spots, conflicts, and contradictions that demands compassion, exploration, and curiosity. Therefore, before any psychological theories, diagnoses/labels, and treatment approaches, I see and treat my clients as a living human first. Just like me.

In our therapeutic work, I draw from psychodynamic theories to get to a “fuller picture” of my clients’ challenges. I also place value in psychological skills from behavioral approaches (i.e., CBT, DBT) in alleviating my clients’ immediate sufferings and in jump starting behavioral changes. Lastly, I like to incorporate factors beyond the traditional psychological literature, such as my clients’ diverse identities and systematic context, into my understanding of my clients’ emotional suffering. The combination of these approaches helps my clients discover insights and tolerance in themselves and others, as well as find strength in change and healing.