Aileen B. Cho, MA, RDT/BCT, CEDS, LMFT #93246
Psychotherapist · Registered Drama Therapist / Board Certified Trainer · Certified Eating Disorder Specialist · Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Get to Know Me
A licensed professional offering psychotherapeutic services in both English and Korean.
I am a 2nd generation Korean-American cis-gender female clinician licensed in the state of California. I grew up moving around a lot and my multicultural experiences have helped me develop a keen sensitivity and awareness around cross-cultural issues and the intersections between historical, intergenerational, societal and personal trauma.
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I am also a drama therapist, which means that, when appropriate, I utilize embodied, expressive and interactive processes to help develop insight, instigate change, reach your goals and create a healthier and more fulfilling life.
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Professional Background & Qualifications
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Aileen B. Cho earned her Master's degree in Counseling Psychology & Drama Therapy (Marriage & Family Therapist Track) from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Graduate School of Professional Psychology. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Theatre (Area of Focus in Psychology) from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Prior to graduate school, Aileen received California-certified training to work with survivors of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault (DVSA) for API communities in Los Angeles, CA. Her past clinical experiences include training and working in community mental health, the Veteran Affairs (VA), middle/high school settings and various treatment settings for eating disorders in Southern California and across the Bay Area. She has been practicing psychotherapy for over a decade and teaches as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Master's Level in Counseling Psychology & Drama Therapy Program at the CIIS in San Francisco, CA.
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist #93246
Aileen is licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) in the state of California and is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT).
Registered Drama Therapist #555 / Board Certified Trainer #142
Aileen is a Registered Drama Therapist (RDT) through the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) and a Board Certified Trainer (BCT) in drama therapy. This makes her qualified to organize/conduct academic courses, train/supervise the education of Alternative Route Trainees and guide/mentor the development of new drama therapists from learning the fundamentals of drama therapy to assuming a professional identity through their training towards their RDT certification. Aileen has been the director of Theatre for Change (social justice theater) and many Self-Revelatory Performances in the Drama Therapy Program department at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, CA.
Developmental Transformations (DvT) Practitioner #49
Developmental Transformations (DvT) involves the continuous transformation of embodied encounters in a playspace. Aileen is a past co-director and trainer at the iWest Institute in San Francisco.
Certified Eating Disorder Specialist #9769
Aileen has a wide experience working with both adolescent and adult individuals, groups, and families in residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and outpatient treatment programs for eating disorders and co-occuring disorders all around the Bay Area and Southern California. She has been the Program Director at Center for Discovery, a residential treatment program for children, adolescents, and teens ages 10 to 19 with eating disorders. Aileen is a past member of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). Aileen is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) and has provided in-service trainings and consultation for the following sites: Living Arts Counseling Center, Epiphany Center, UCSF Trauma Recovery Center, Korea Daily Times, and the Process Therapy Institute. Aileen most currently worked as a Mental Health Specialist and Group Psychotherapist at the Sutter Health: Alta Bates Summit Medical Center (Herrick Campus) on the Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Unit (Eating Disorder & General Psych) and Adult Outpatient Eating Disorder Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Program.
Publications
Emunah, R., Raucher, G., Cho, A. (2024). Self-revelatory performance that bridges personal and social healing. In Sajnani, N., & Johnson, D. R. Trauma-informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. (2nd ed.). Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, Ltd.
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Wood, L. Cho, A., Hartung, S., Al-Qadfan, F., Wichmann, S. (2022). Drama therapy and the treatment of eating disorders: Advancing towards clinical guidelines. In The Arts in Psychotherapy, Volume 80, 2022, 101948, ISSN 0197-4556, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101948.
Sajnani, N., Cho, A., Landis, H., Raucher, G., Trytan, N. (2018). Collaborative discourse analysis on the use of drama therapy to treat depression in adults. In A. Zubala & V. Karkou & A. Arts therapies in the treatment of depression. London, UK: Routledge.
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Cho, A. (2013). The bridge between documentary theatre and drama therapy: Our Asian American theatre experiment. Praxis.