Search and Reunion

Born outside of Seoul, South Korea, I am a transracial, transnational adoptee.

I love working with transracial, transnational adopted individuals (age 17+) who grew up questioning their racial and ethnic identities and wondered, “does anyone else feel this way?”

I draw from a variety of modalities, chief among them being relational (and relatable). I take a developmental and holistic approach to healing, including awareness of developmental milestones on our lives and the lingering impact on our relationships and connections to self and others.

Julie Jong Koch, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed independent clinical social worker and psychotherapist at Watercourse Counseling Center in Minneapolis. She specializes in working with transracial adoptees, POCI (People of color/Indigenous people), queer & trans individuals, as well as others who have experienced individual or community trauma or marginalization. She integrates her professional training and therapeutic skills with her lived experience as a queer-identified Korean adoptee.

I am privileged to have a vocation where I can equip and accompany people on their journey toward healing, allowing them to live a life they were created to live. The path of adoption is an area where I have experience personally and professionally. I have seen how wonderful forming a family can be as well as how difficult. I am experienced in providing therapy to children and adults for over 12 years. My training in EMDR impacts much of what I do and how I supervise other mental health professionals. I understand people thru the lens of attachment, object relations and narrative therapy.

Melissa joined the University of Minnesota School of Social Work’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) in February 2013 as the Title IV-E Child Welfare Field Coordinator. In this role, she works directly with the IV-E MSW scholars who are focusing their studies and field experiences in child welfare practice, and with public and private agencies that provide child welfare services.