Meet Suyeu Kuo | Executive Clinical Director & Licensed Psychologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suyeu Kuo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suyeu, what role has risk played in your life or career?
As a licensed psychologist, I assess for risk every day. I consider the risk of suicidality, homicidality, grave disability, and abuse every time I speak with a patient, because it is both my ethical and legal responsibility to assess for these risk factors whenever I treat someone. This level of assessment and analysis is something I apply to my daily life as well. I thoroughly explore every aspect of possible risk, then make a determination based on the facts, my experience, and the resources in place to mitigate the risk.

In life, I believe there are a number of choices we are faced with that carry inherent risk, because nothing is certain. Typically, we think that choosing the path with the least amount of risk will always be the safest, which is true if we only take into consideration what we might lose, but this often means that we choose the past with the least potential for growth. For me, the risk of not growing in my life or career is much scarier than the risk of losing something, so I believe that the choice that helps you grow the most will always be worth the risk that may come with it, which is how I got to where I am today.

What should our readers know about your business?
Protected Roots Integrative (PRI) Treatment Center is a mental health clinic with an adolescent intensive outpatient program (IOP) and outpatient program (OP). PRI’s IOP is different from other IOPs because we hold Multifamily Group every day. We intentionally structured our program this way to provide regular support for the family as a unit, while they support the patient in the home. We are most proud of our implementation of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) within the Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Framework to address both primary substance use and primary mental health concerns, because this allows us to provide trauma-informed treatment that is tailored to the patients and families who need our support.

The primary thing that got PRI to where we are today is our teamwork, perseverance, and adaptability to change. Starting any new business is never easy, but open communication, kindness, and trust has helped and continues to help our team to develop and grow to best support our patients and our staff. I have learned that there is always room for growth and development throughout this journey, and the most important thing I want the world to know about PRI is that our mission is to support as many patients and families as possible through any and all stressors and/or transitions that life may bring them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego is a beautiful place full of things to eat and do. If you have someone visiting town, I would recommend visiting La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Cove, the San Diego Safari Park, and Balboa Park. There are plenty of food places to check out as well, between the multiple brunch places in La Jolla Cove or Hillcrest and the Italian restaurants in Little Italy, so it’s hard to only recommend a few. If you do want something to eat that I have only been able to find in San Diego, I recommend ordering Christian Fries at Vallarta Express at least once.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to give some credit and recognition to:

• • My loved ones, without whom I would not be here.
  • My schools, teachers, supervisors, and training sites that have provided me all the knowledge and experiences to be the psychologist I am today,

• Protected Roots Integrative (PRI) Treatment Center for giving me the opportunity to grow in my career.

I would not be here without the love, patience, and guidance from all of you.

Website: https://www.pritreatmentcenter.com/

Instagram: @protectedrootsintegrative

Image Credits
Desi Dumalo