Care that reaches
the least reached.
Mental health, aging, youth and family, and care continuity in Mandarin and English.
Wenqing (Emily) Li, MSW, ASW
About Me
Bilingual Mandarin-English social work practice shaped by clinical care, community access, research, and care-continuity innovation.
I am a bilingual Mandarin-English social worker whose work centers people and communities who are often least reached by traditional systems of care, including immigrants and refugees, Mandarin-speaking communities, and survivors of complex trauma.
Across psychiatry, refugee and immigrant services, youth programs, family psychoeducation, program evaluation, and clinical innovation projects, my work is organized around practical access: assessment, treatment planning, crisis response, care coordination, community linkage, and warm continuity beyond a single session or setting.
Languages
Areas of Specialization
"What looks like 'choice' is often the residue of childhood harm and survival-based neural patterns. Trauma-informed care invites us to look beyond symptoms and help people rebuild safety, connection, and meaning."
WENQING (EMILY) LI
Clinical Experience
Select the area most relevant to your role or setting to see targeted experience highlights. Open each role for a fuller preview, or use the full page for complete details.
View full clinical experience pageExperience supporting adults and older adults across outpatient psychiatry, intensive outpatient programming, refugee and immigrant services, community-based care, and aging-focused research.
Targeted Strengths
Kaiser Permanente adult psychiatry experience with MDD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, OCD, PTSD and complex trauma, substance use, dementia, chronic pain, grief, DV/IPV, and LGBTQ+-related concerns.
Crisis assessment and safety planning for SI/HI, including C-SSRS, urgent psychiatric coordination, family or caregiver engagement, and care transition planning.
Case management and aftercare planning that connects clients with community resources, benefits and housing supports, alleviates concerns around medical care, and supports family-involved at-home care planning when clinically appropriate and with client consent.
Older adult focus through UC Berkeley's Graduate Certificate in Aging, Kaiser clinical work, CERI services, and Julian's Lab research on home care access for low-income Asian American elders.
Relevant Experience
Education
Graduate training, honors, certificates, and interdisciplinary preparation for clinical and community-based practice.
Master of Social Work
Social Work
University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare
Berkeley, California
Honors & Awards
- •2026 Excellence in Social Work Practice Award
- •Graduate Certificate in Aging
Activities
- •Founder and Group Facilitator of Mental Health Wellness Group for international students
- •Graduate Financial Wellness Coach
- •Director of External Relations, Chinese Graduate and Postdoc Student Association
Core Courses
Psychosocial Problems and Psychopathology, Substance Use and Interventions, Cognitive Behavioral Methods, Anti-Oppressive Frameworks for Social Work Ethics and Justice, Aging Processes, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Domestic Violence, Third Wave Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Bachelor of Science
Applied Psychology
East China Normal University
Shanghai, China
Honors & Awards
- •Outstanding Graduate
- •Supreme Scholarship for 2021 and 2022
- •Excellent Student Awards for 2021 and 2022
Activities
- •Founder and Leader of Family Psychoeducation Project
- •Head of Academic Development Center, ECNU Students' Union
- •Head of New Beat Choir
Core Courses
Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Social Psychology, Undergraduate Research Thesis
Strengths
Across outpatient psychiatry, intensive outpatient programming, and community-based care, with experience in individual and group therapies, aftercare planning, crisis intervention, case management, and multidisciplinary collaboration.
AI Innovations
Clinical technology projects translating mental health practice into accessible, safety-centered AI tools.
TheraCat: Proactive AI Wearable
Built a two-part panic-intervention prototype: a wrist-worn sensor and a soft plush companion that respond before the user has to unlock a phone or open an app.
TheraCaIl: Automated Voice-AI Outreach Platform
Built a voice-AI treatment alliance aid for clinicians whose patients struggle to complete action plans between therapy sessions.
Research
Research and program evaluation focused on psychiatric care continuity, aging and home care access, mood disorders, and neuroimaging predictors of mental health treatment response.
Publications & Presentations
Pallidum volume as a predictor for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and psycho-education in unmedicated patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder
Comprehensive Psychiatry, 131, 152462
Default mode network resting-state functional connectivity predicts response to medication and psychotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Oral presentation at the 22nd National Psychiatry Conference of the Chinese Medical Association, Shenyang, China, September 2024; poster presentation at CSNP, Ningbo, China, June 2024
Program Evaluation & Research Roles
Post-IOP Program Evaluation and MSW Thesis
Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry
Designed and proposed a quasi-experimental evaluation of the post-IOP 'IOP-Grad Group,' a continuity-oriented support group for adults with severe mental illness.
Research Assistant, Co-op Development for Asian American IHSS
Julian's Lab, UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare
Contributed to a worker-cooperative development project addressing gaps in quality home care for low-income Asian American older adults.
Research Assistant
CALM Program, Department of Psychology, UC Berkeley
Contributed to a meta-analysis on mood disorders by developing database-specific search strings across PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and PsycINFO and supporting literature screening.
Get In Touch
Interested in working together or have questions? I'd love to connect.
Location
Open to relocate anywhere in the U.S.
Availability
Can start work in 1 month
Open to evenings and weekends
Licensure & Professional Standing
- California Associate Clinical Social Worker (ASW #139762)
- Eligible for licensure across statescurrently in process of obtaining LMSW in NY
- Certified Kaiser Permanente Bilingual Clinician in Mandarin
- Member, National Association of Social Workers (NASW), California Chapter
- Member, Asian Pacific Islander Social Work Council (APISWC)