I am glad you are here. I am originally from Japan, and currently offering individual therapy and couples therapy in Japanese and English in New York for people who struggle with anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship issues and complex trauma.

Many people come to me hoping to truly heal from their painful past after they tried other types of therapy to improve their mood, and now they are more willing to explore the root cause of their emotional struggles that are still unresolved so that they can finally move towards healing from their deep pain to be able to live a life they deserve with more confidence, calmness and deeper emotional connections with other people around them. I have experiences working with people with anxiety and complex trauma from all backgrounds, and I welcome everyone and provide safe space in my practice.

Most of my clients were raised being expected to meet exceptional success academically and professionally, and describe themselves as a high achiever, however internally they struggle to feel confident, content, and happy with themselves and their life. Some of my clients were raised in a family who does not accept their important identity including their gender identity, sexual orientation, choice of career, and choice of romantic partnership. As a result of severe criticism and lack of acceptance and love for who they truly were as a child, many of my clients developed their severe anxiety, guilt, and shame to be who they are without societal approvals, acceptance, or achievements. My expertise is helping them find their true version of themselves that have been at their core by discovering their own compassionate true voice, deepening connections to their own feelings, and building trust in themselves. After our work together, many of my clients become able to feel confident in who they truly are, move towards their own desirable life, and develop deeper connections in relationships.

I have also successfully helped many couples when both partners struggle with their own trauma that affects their relationships to find their strengths that they already have as a couple, and nurture their deeper emotional connections and emotionally effective communications with each other in order to move beyond their trauma and painful past.

I strongly believe in what I can offer not only as your therapist but as a person with various life experiences as an Asian woman, immigrant, parent, partner, and career changer in addition to my clinical training and theoretical approach in my work with my clients. While everyone’s life experience is unique, I deeply understand various emotional pains and struggles that we experience in our culture and communities. If any of my identity or experience resonates with you, I would love to help you.

My background

With the hope of  helping you get to know me as a person and therapist, I would like to share my background story here.

I was born and raised in Japan to a middle-class family in which academic and professional success was highly valued. Since I was a child, I have always worked hard to get what I wanted but sometimes I felt very unmotivated to study or work towards stereo typical success even in an environment that I dreamt of, and I did not know why. After landing a job in my dream company in public relations in Tokyo, even though it seemed I had a “successful” life from outside, I was feeling unfulfilled. While searching for a clue to my true happiness and fulfilling life, I decided to move to New York City, where I always had wanted to live, to study more marketing hoping that gaining more knowledge and experience would eventually make me happier in my life. Although I loved living my dream life in NYC, the immigration experience as an Asian female foreigner without any social support system or professional foundations in the US was isolating and challenging, and I sought support and a refuge in my own first therapy. Through my own therapy, I found who I truly was, what I truly wanted, and my core self that had always been inside me but dismissed by anxiety, guilt and shame for a long time to meet other people’s expectations rather than my own. I realized that not prioritizing my own needs and desires in order to meet other people’s expectations and stereotypical success was holding me back to having the more connected and authentic life that I wanted.

This my own therapy experience with a huge relief that I can allow myself to be my authentic self and pursue what I really want eventually led me to feel more fulfilled, and I decided to change my career to be a therapist to offer what I was able to experience in my own therapy, which is healing, growth, and transformance from my old pain that was holding me back to live the life that I truly wanted. Since then, I have worked extensively with Asian women and other BIPOC members who struggle with similar challenges in two different cultures to find their own voice, healing, and true self to live more authentic lives. 

Besides being a bi-cultural and bi-lingual Asian immigrant therapist, I am a parent of a biracial child and a partner in an interracial marriage. I believe who I am as a person outside the therapy room provides me more depth in understanding and compassion towards my clients in similar life situations and the work we do together in therapy.

Professional experiences:

-Blanton-Peale Institute and Counseling Center, NY (Staff Therapist)

-The Fifth Avenue Counseling Center, NY (Clinical Intern/psychotherapist)

-Womankind, NY (Clinical Intern & Client Advocate for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors)

Credentials & Training: 

-New York State Licensed Clinical Social Worker  (License number: 094981)

-AEDP Institute Level 3 trained therapist 

-Transformative Couples Therapy trained therapist

Education:

-Master of Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, New York, NY

-Master of Comparative Civilization from Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan