EXPLORE THIS PAGE
Understanding Therapy in Tagalog | Why Work with a Tagalog-Speaking Therapist? | Meet Kim | FAQs
Tagalog-Speaking Therapist
in California
Sometimes it's not about whether you can speak English. It's about whether English is the language that holds everything you want to say.
Maybe you speak Tagalog every day. Maybe you understand Tagalog but usually answer in English. Maybe your Tagalog comes out when you're talking about your parents, telling a story from childhood, making a joke, or trying to explain something that just doesn't sound quite right in English. Maybe Taglish is simply how you naturally talk. Or maybe you don't speak much Tagalog at all—but there is something comforting about knowing your therapist understands the language, culture, family dynamics, and little things you don't always want to stop and explain.
At Table Family Therapy, we offer sessions in Tagalog, English, and Taglish — in-person in Pasadena, serving the greater Los Angeles area, and online in San Francisco and throughout California. You don't have to translate every part of yourself here. You’re welcome here—in whatever language feels like home; in whatever language feels like you.
Why Might Working With a Tagalog-Speaking Therapist Feel Different?
LANGUAGE + THERAPY
Language can hold more than words. It can hold family, memories, humor, culture, relationships, and sometimes, parts of ourselves that don't translate perfectly.
Language can influence how people access and communicate emotional experiences. Research with bilingual clients suggests that having the ability to use both languages in therapy can support expression and understanding, facilitate the therapeutic process, and strengthen the therapeutic relationship.
For Filipino-Americans specifically, research has identified language as one of the cultural factors associated with patterns of mental-health help-seeking. That doesn't mean therapy in Tagalog is automatically better than therapy in English. It means having options can matter.
Sometimes you may want to talk about something entirely in English. Sometimes the Tagalog word comes first. Sometimes there isn't an English phrase that feels quite right. And sometimes you'll start a sentence in one language and finish it in another.
We can follow where the conversation naturally goes.
Tagalog, English & Taglish Are All Welcome
You don’t have to speak Tagalog fluently to work with a Tagalog-speaking therapist. And you definitely don’t have to prove how “Filipino” you are by how much Tagalog you know.
At Table Family Therapy, conversations can happen in Tagalog, English, or Taglish. We don’t have to choose one language and stick with it for the whole session. You can speak in whatever way feels most natural in the moment.
You might say:
“I know I need to set a boundary, pero parang ang sama kong anak.”
Or:
“I don’t know. Nahihiya lang talaga ako.”
We don’t need to stop the conversation to translate every word. We can pay attention to what the language means to you.
And if you prefer therapy mostly in English but like knowing that your therapist understands Tagalog, that’s welcome too.
Therapy is about giving you more room to express yourself without having to translate every part of your experience first.
Some Things Just Feel Different in Tagalog
MEANING + NUANCE
There are words and experiences that can carry layers of meaning.
Hiya. Utang na loob. Pakikisama. Bahala na.
Even words as ordinary as anak, ate, kuya, tita, or lola can carry relationships, expectations, affection, hierarchy, history, and belonging that aren't always captured by a direct English translation.
That doesn't mean every Filipino understands these ideas in exactly the same way. We don't.
Our relationships with Filipino culture can vary depending on our families, where we grew up, immigration experiences, generation, faith, community, language ability, and many other parts of our lives. So I'm not going to tell you what a Filipino word or value is supposed to mean to you.
Instead, we can explore what it means in your story.
Looking for therapy that understands Filipino culture?
Speaking the same language isn't the same thing as having the same life, and Filipino culture isn't one single experience. But sometimes it can help to work with someone who already has some understanding of the cultural context surrounding the words.
Our experiences with family, identity, immigration, hiya, faith, expectations, sacrifice, belonging, and living between cultures can all find their way into the therapy room.
If those experiences are a big part of what you're looking for support around, explore the link below where we go much deeper into culturally responsive therapy for Filipino and Filipino American clients.
MEET KIM
A Tagalog-Speaking Therapist in California
Hi, I'm Kim Agramon (Agramon-Bai), AMFT, APCC. I provide in-person therapy in Pasadena, serving the greater Los Angeles area, and online therapy in San Francisco and throughout California as part of Table Family Therapy.
I grew up in the Philippines and moved to the United States as an adult. I'm fluent in both Tagalog and English, and I naturally understand what it's like to move between the two languages.
Sometimes that's full Tagalog. Sometimes it's English.
And sometimes:
"Alam mo yung… wait, how do I say this?"
I get it.
I also know that language is connected to more than vocabulary. It can be connected to where we grew up, the people who raised us, how our families communicate, the jokes we understand, the things we were taught not to talk about, and the ways we've learned to show love.
At the same time, I'm never going to assume that because we both speak Tagalog, I automatically understand your experience.
It would be an honor to get to know you and hear your story.
Let's Understand What's Happening— and Practice Something Different
My approach to therapy is warm, relational, collaborative, and active. I draw heavily from Restoration Therapy, which helps us slow down the patterns that happen when we're hurting. We look at what you're feeling. What you're telling yourself in those moments. How you react. And what happens in your relationships afterward. Then we practice something different.
That might mean learning to regulate yourself when anxiety takes over, communicating something you've been afraid to say, setting a boundary without immediately believing you're selfish, understanding why a particular family interaction affects you so deeply, or it might simply mean learning how to stay present with feelings you've spent years pushing away.
And we can do that in Tagalog, English, Taglish—or all three. There can be serious conversations here. There can also be laughter, humor, curiosity, and moments where we don't have to take ourselves quite so seriously. I want therapy to feel like a place where you can show up as you are.
Why work with Table Family Therapy?
At Table Family Therapy, we believe there should be room for your whole story.
Your relationships. Your family. Your culture. Your identity. The parts of you that feel strong and the parts that feel stuck. They all deserve a seat at the table.
Our approach is warm, relational, and collaborative. We don't want therapy to be only a place where we talk about what's wrong. Together, we can understand the patterns that keep showing up, make sense of what's underneath them, and practice ways of responding that move you toward greater connection and peace.
Kim Agramon (Agramon-Bai), AMFT, APCC, is part of the Table Family Therapy team and offers therapy in Tagalog, English, and Taglish. Table Family Therapy offers in-person therapy in Los Angeles (Pasadena) and San Francisco & online therapy throughout California.
FAQs about Therapy with a Tagalog-Speaking Therapist
-
Absolutely. You don't need to pick a language at the beginning of the session and stay with it. We can move naturally between Tagalog and English.
-
That's completely okay. Having a Tagalog-speaking therapist doesn't mean we need to speak Tagalog throughout your session. You may prefer English 95% of the time. You might use Tagalog only when quoting a family member. You might never use it at all.
Sometimes what matters is simply knowing that if Tagalog does come up, you don't have to stop and translate. And cultural understanding can still matter even when the entire conversation happens in English.
Language and culture often overlap. There can be room for both here.
-
That's completely okay. You can speak English. You can answer in English when I use Tagalog. You can use the Tagalog words you know. Or we can keep the entire session in English. There is no expectation that you speak a certain amount of Tagalog.
-
You may not need therapy in Tagalog at all. For some clients, the benefit is simply having the option.
Certain family conversations, childhood memories, jokes, emotions, or cultural ideas may come to mind in Tagalog even when English is the language you use most often.
And sometimes knowing that your therapist understands the language and cultural context means there is simply less to explain.
-
Not necessarily. Language and cultural identity are related, but they aren't identical. I'm both a Filipino therapist and a fluent Tagalog speaker. That allows us to work not only with language but also with the cultural and relational context that may surround it.
-
Yes! Language, family expectations, communication, faith, identity, and intergenerational differences can all become part of our work. I also have a particular interest in working with intercultural and mixed-background couples.
-
Yes.
You don’t have to be Filipino to work with me. While I care deeply about creating a space where Filipino and Filipino-American clients can feel seen and understood, I work with people from many different backgrounds and life experiences. What matters most is finding a therapist who feels like a good fit for you and what you’re hoping to work on.
-
Yes. I provide online therapy in Tagalog, English, and Taglish in San Francisco and throughout California, as well as in-person therapy in Pasadena through Table Family Therapy.
WHAT WE CAN WORK ON
-
Reduce anxiety, stress, and overwhelm
Talk about difficult experiences in the language that feels most natural
Understand family expectations and guilt
Work through people-pleasing
Practice healthier boundaries
Navigate immigration and major life transitions
Explore Filipino and Filipino American identity
Strengthen emotional awareness
Improve communication with partner and family
Navigate intergenerational differences
Explore faith, values, or religious experiences
Work through relationship challenges
Understand patterns that keep repeating
Build confidence in your own voice and choices
Process grief and loss
You don't have to translate every part of yourself. We can start with the language that comes naturally—and go from there.
Tagalog-speaking therapy is available in-person in Pasadena, serving the greater Los Angeles area, and online in San Francisco and throughout California.
-
Gong, F., Gage, S.-J. L., & Tacata, L. A., Jr. (2003). Help-seeking behavior among Filipino Americans: A cultural analysis of face and language. Journal of Community Psychology, 31(5), 469–488.
Marcos, L. R. (1976). Bilinguals in psychotherapy: Language as an emotional barrier. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 30(4), 552–560.
Marcos, L. R., & Alpert, M. (1976). Strategies and risks in psychotherapy with bilingual patients: The phenomenon of language independence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133(11), 1275–1278.
Martinez, A. B., Co, M., Lau, J., & Brown, J. S. L. (2020). Filipino help-seeking for mental health problems and associated barriers and facilitators: A systematic review. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55(11), 1397–1413.
Pérez-Rojas, A. E., Brown, R., Cervantes, A., Valente, T., & Pereira, S. R. (2019). “Alguien abrió la puerta:” The phenomenology of bilingual Latinx clients' use of Spanish and English in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 56(2), 241–253.