About

Hello.

My name is Joseph Lee. I’m a Psychiatrist with a therapy-based practice in the Los Angeles area.

I’m also a husband and a parent, and these family relationships have really shaped my self identity and personal growth.

I was born in America, my parents are Chinese immigrants. I recognize that makes me an American, an Asian, and an Asian American. My racial identity matters to me.

I’ve been going to church my whole life until the past few years. I’m currently “unchurched” not because I’m no longer a Christian, but because I’ve learned that the American Evangelical Church that I grew up in is no longer an accepting space for someone like me, who is a Christian but also has Progressive beliefs. And yet I still believe, because my faith is how I make sense of my existence, since Science can’t overcome the statistical improbability of us being here, and yet here we are.

I’m also a curious life long learner, thanks to my parents who gave me plenty of opportunities to learn all sorts of things, but never pushed me to do well in school. Instead they made me feel secure and loved in being who I was. I appreciate this good start to my life more and more as I get older.

Now to some people my being a Psychiatrist, and one that readily expresses his thoughts and feelings doesn’t seem to fit your classic Asian stereotype. Also, being a Progressive Christian is irreconciliable to some people that I’ve gone to church with in the past. Being both spiritual and a Scientist, or a male who is emotional and one that is a Feminist – all of this makes me seem like a walking contradiction. Of course I don’t think so.

Because human beings are not simple. They are complex. So are our beliefs. And big problems that don’t have easy solutions, well it’s because they are complex too. So when we talk about complex issues as if they are simple, then we are never going to get to the goals we want – like meaningful progress, genuine growth, or actual solutions.

And that’s the final thing you should know about me. I like the complexity. I want to make sense of it and enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings with others. I’m not one to agree to disagree. I like going towards the problem space, and I want to fix it.

So this is my personal blog, where I’ll share about complex but important topics that matter to me. Politics, religion, relationships, money, parenting, all the bad “-isms.” I hope to get to all of them. I also hope that people that visit will also engage in the comments with me, with equally challenging thoughts and big feelings that we can work through together. My only request is that we don’t try to solve complex problems with simplistic answers.