Welcome to “On the Couch” … a series of Q&A sessions dedicated to getting to know the amazing staff at Well Clinic
This week, we’re sitting down with Alice Wu-Cardona, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) at Well Clinic in San Francisco.
What is your favorite part about your work?
That I get to have authentic connections with people through the day.
What is your favorite thing about San Francisco?
Neighborhoods, Oceans, Culture
Name four things that are on your bucket list.
See Northern Lights
Spend a month or more inTaiwan
Write a children’s book
Open a cafe
Where did you grow up?
Orange County, CA
What is your favorite quote?
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” – The Velveteen Rabbit
In your free time, what are you most likely doing?
Playing w my pets
Reading young adult books
Winning at Scrabble
Where was your last vacation?
Skiing at Lake Tahoe
What cause(s) are you most passionate about?
Issues of social, economic, and racial injustice.
What was your career before becoming a mental health practitioner?
Community planner and medical social worker.
Do you have any talents that few people know about? If so, what are they?
I used to make stained glass windows.
What is your favorite food?
Mochi waffles and boba drinks.
What was your favorite toy as a child?
Playing video games on an ancient computer
Do you have any pets? Please introduce them to us.
Coconut – 10yr sweet maltipoo recently dx diabetic, Chubs – 5 yr curly and barky maltipoo, Roo – super fluffy maine coon friendly cat who follows us around the entire block as we walk the dogs at night, and 4 hens raised from chicks who recently started giving us fresh eggs daily.
What motivates you?
Hope, healing, and change
Name one guilty pleasure, past or present.
Binge watching 16 seasons of Greys Anatomy.
Describe one of your first few jobs.
Administrative assistant to an events planning agency. Getting to attend big parties as extra help.
What’s one fun thing you wish you could do more of?
Bike and hike.
What made you want to become a mental health practitioner?
Learning about neurobiology and the ability to make real change in one’s life, that overcoming being stuck is entirely possible.
What makes Well Clinic different?
They care about their employees and give us the support needed to grow and flourish as practitioners.
Learn More + Book an Appointment With Alice
