Services
- Individual
About My Clients
Are you feeling stuck, in-between worlds and/or cultures and like you don’t belong anywhere? Perhaps your communities, families, and society have told you you are not “enough.” Or maybe you've found yourself seeking meaning, self-worth, and belonging in other people, things, and achievements and still don’t feel at “home.” As a culturally conscious somatic/body-based therapist, I offer tools to help ease the sense of overwhelm, exhaustion, and anxiety that my clients often arrive with.
My Approach to Helping
Our work together may look like: An invitation to share your history, legacy, strengths, and generational burdens and the stories you’ve internalized about yourself (narrative therapy). If it feels ok to do so, we may consider attuning to the sensations that arise in your body and ask what they might be telling you, or asking of you (somatic body-based approaches). We may want to uncover the ways in which interpersonal and systemic oppression has left you feeling numb and exhausted (liberation psychology/racial trauma). We may utilize meditations and visualizations to enhance the possibility of feeling hopeful, grounded, rooted, centered, and “at home” (mindfulness). I may pull oracle and/or tarot cards to offer another perspective on your situation or feelings (spirituality/your intuition). We may utilize some or all of these methods throughout our sessions together.
Why I Became a Therapist
I am an East Asian American and Japanese American woman that immigrated to rural Alaska with my parents at a young age and was raised in a low-income household in a majority white community. I distinctly remember the moment when I realized I was "different" and moved through much of my young adult life putting away my true self. Now, I'm deeply moved to help other Asian Americans and adult children of immigrants and refugees feel at home within themselves. During the past twelve years that I have spent working with terminally ill patients and their families, advocating for residents of long-term care facilities, offering intensive emotional support to older adults experiencing homelessness, and as a social work supervisor and director, one thing remains constant: I present myself as a compassionate listener, attuned practitioner, and an empathic human to witness your story and hold a container for your experience.