Through even a brief conversation with Dominique Phua, a licensed clinical social worker and certified alcohol and drug counselor, what becomes most clear isn’t just how deeply Dominique cares about her clients, but also how she credits this field with profoundly shaping her in return.
“Despite the degrees and knowledge I have obtained, working with people in the field has taught me the most,” she shared. “My clients and our members have imparted so much knowledge onto me that changed me and stuck with me.”
From a really young age, Dominique knew that this was the kind of work she wanted to do. She said she was always drawn to the psychology world.
“I just was fascinated with how people think and why they do what they do and don't do what they don't do,” she shared. “So I went to school and became more interested in the science and the evidence based practices involved. I declared my major in psychology freshman year and stuck with that. I ended up in social work, and I absolutely love it.”
After graduating with her bachelors degree, Dominique went straight into an MSW program, finishing when she was 23. She has been in Chicago for the last eight years and has been working at Amanda Ori PsyD & Associates since April of 2025.
However, Dominique didn’t always know she would end up in private practice. Some of her earliest experiences in the field were marked by burnout, working in foster care straight out of school. She said that taught her a lot about the importance of balance.
“I think that self-care is really important in being a good clinician,” she shared. “I realized that not only do I want to be in this field, I want to be healthy in this field, and for a long time. I need to say no to things that don't serve me and yes to things that bring me fulfillment. 10 years later, I think that success shows through how much I still love this field."
Since then, she’s made intentional choices to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
“Self-care has to be a way of living. It’s in the choice to find beauty on a beautiful day. Take a nice breath, or five more minutes in the shower. It's a way of being rather than a checklist. It’s a philosophy.”
Dominique has worked in both nonprofit and private practice settings, serving a wide range of clients. Her expertise includes substance use, serious mental illness (SMI), and trauma. One tool she’s recently added to her clinical toolkit is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a trauma-focused therapy that initially struck Dominique as a little far-fetched.
“I’m a very practical person. During training, I was like, ‘What did I just spend money on?’” she laughed. “But then I tried it with a long-time client, someone who knew me and would tell me if it wasn’t working. And then they said something without prompting that I’d been trying to help them realize for years. I nearly fell out of my chair.”
When asked if being a therapist feels rewarding, Dominique didn’t hesitate.
“Yes, it’s fulfilling. But you have to be creative in how you see the successes. Sometimes the win is just helping someone move from ‘I don’t have a problem,’ to ‘Maybe this is something I should look at.’ That’s huge.”
The hardest parts of the job, Dominique said, aren’t about the clients. The systems, the insurance barriers, and the inequities frustrate her most.
“I can sit in a room with someone and hold space, even for really difficult things. But it’s when I can’t help them navigate the systems hurting them that is really tough.”
In talking about cultural psychology and how mental health is experienced differently across communities, Dominique shared that the growing diversity of therapists and specialties in the field has had a very positive impact on the psychology world.
“I’ve really valued the diversity of the people that come into this field because it reflects the diversity of our clients as well. Skills I might not utilize often might be another clinician’s strength, and I'm glad that this diversity exists for clients,” she said. “I think it also helps for people of color to see that someone that looks like them is here representing them in the system. That can hopefully be a source of hope and optimism.”
When asked what she thinks the field of psychology needs more of, Dominique shared that along with empathy, curiosity is a really powerful tool.
“We need people that are humble and teachable, people who stay curious,” she emphasized. “I think that's something that's been really important for me as I continue to grow in this field.”
In looking to the future, Dominique will be leaving Amanda Ori PsyD & Associates in the spring and starting her own private practice, Grounded in Hope Counseling. She also plans to continue working in the nonprofit realm, and to keep serving communities that need help.
“I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep going within the nonprofit world. I have a real passion for the people that I serve in the non-profit sector that, generally speaking, don't usually have access to the best care. Because of that, I hope to serve them for a long time.”
