Hi, I’m Yoko

Somatic & Integrative Psychotherapist

My Story

My name is Yoko (she/her/they). I’m a first-generation Asian American, adult third culture kid (TCK), experiential educator, and a psychotherapist specializing in trauma therapy through holistic and somatic therapy with an expertise in Brainspotting therapy.

I grew up between cultures — Learning early how belonging, power, and survival shape our nervous systems.

My work is rooted in the understanding that healing does not happen in isolation.

It happens in relationship — to self, to story, to the worlds we move through.

I hold the feather, with respect for Native traditions, as a symbol of balance and truth. The ocean reminds me of resilience — of depth, movement, and collective connection. I live and work on the traditional homeland of the Massachusett people, whose presence continues today.

I am not here to fix you. I am here to honor what helped you survive — and to support what is ready to soften.

We move at the pace your body trusts.

If this feels aligned, you’re invited to start here.

If This Resonates, Let's Talk

What Shapes My Work

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I spent years designing and leading experiential intercultural trainings and leadership programs as an international educator.

I worked with people navigating identity, belonging, and cross-cultural connection — and saw how essential it is to have spaces where you don't have to perform or explain yourself.

That experience continues to shape my clinical work. Our histories and nervous systems influence how we relate, protect, and survive.

Whether in one-on-one therapy, group experiences, or professional trainings, I focus on helping people slow down, reconnect, and gently work with long-held patterns.

I bring the steadiness of a facilitator and the presence of a relational, somatic, and integrative therapist—creating space for clarity, connection, and sustainable change across the different ways we gather, learn, and heal.

Let's Begin Together

My RESUME

  • Graduate Degrees:

    • Smith College - Master of Social Work

    • SIT Graduate Institute - Master of Arts in International Education

    Undergraduate Degree:

    • Aoyama Gakuin University - Bachelor’s degree in International Economics

    License:

    License #123067 LICSW (The Common Wealth of Massachusetts)

  • • Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Primary Care

    • Hebrew Senior Life, Long Term Chronic Hospital Unit

    • Simmons University Counseling Center: Internship

    • Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, Faulkner Hospital Inpatient Psychiatry: Internship

    • Duke University, International House

    • Boston University, International Student and Scholars Office

    • Banco do Brasil - Tokyo Branch, Human Resources

    • Certified Brainspotting Therapist

    • Brainspotting Trainings and Specialty Workshops

      • Currently enrolled: “Consultant-In-Training” with Linnea Swanson

      • Brainspotting Phase 1 Attuning to BIPOC Experience, John Edwards and Linnea Swanson

      • Brainspotting Phase 2 Attuning to BIPOC Experience, John Edwards and Linnea Swanson

      • Brainspotting Phase 3 BIPOC with David Grand

      • Brainspotting Phase 5 BIPOC with David Grand

      • Brainspotting BIPOC Masterclass with David Grand

      • Specialty Workshop: Working outside the Brainspotting Window of Tolerance:  Integrating Ego State Therapy and Other Modalities to treat Complex Trauma with Sue Pinco

      • Specialty Workshop: Brain Science to Inform Your Brainspotting Practice with Deb Antinori

      • Specialty Workshop: Developmental Trauma model of Brainspotting Digging Roots 1.0 BIPOC, Steve Sawyer

      • Specialty Workshop: Brainspotting with LGBTQIA2S+ clients, Specialty Workshop, Cindy Smith and Pie Frey

      • Specialty Workshop: Brainspotting with Relationships 1, Jaegil Lee

      • Specialty Workshop: Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents, Monika Bauman

      • Specialty Workshop: Posttraumatic Growth: Brainspotting & Parts Road Map to Liberation, Cherie Lindberg

      • Specialty Workshop: Harmonic Brain Healing, Cynthia Schwartzberg

      • Specialty Workshop: How to do Intensives, Lisa Larson

      • SEBI Webinar: When the Body Fights Itself: Autoimmune Conditions and Brainspotting with Dr. Ofelia Datu

      • SEBI Webinar: Sensory Gating & Dissociation with Dr. David Grand

      • SEBI Webinar: The Great Mystery of Consciousness. What Is It, Where Does It Come From... and How Does Brainspotting Engage It? by Christine Ranck, PhD, LCSW

      • “Spirituality and Brainspotting Group" by Cynthia Schwartzberg

    • Linda Thai’s Certificate in Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies

    • EMBODY LAB Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate

    • Memory Reconsolidation: Translating Neuroscience into Art by Juliane Taylor Shore, LPC, LMFT, SEP via Academy of Therapy Wisdom

    • Intro to Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy

    • Foundations in Embodied Somatic Abolitionism by Dr. Resmaa Menakem

    • NCORE: National Conference on Race and Ethnicity organized by the University of Oklahoma University Outreach

    • Navigating Open Relationships, Polyamory, and Swinging in Therapy: Co-Creating Relationship Agreements By Tammy Nelson, PhD

    • NSGP: Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy: Board Member 2017-2021

    • NSGP Annual Conference participation since 2016

    • NSGP: Membership Committee 2016-2024

    • Ongoing participation in Observation Group at the Brookline Community Health Center

    • One academic year of Weekly Experiential Group (interpersonal process group) organized by NSGP

    • The Power of Group: Prioritizing Connection in Fractured Times by NSGP and BGSP: The Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis

    • Learning about Groups from Inside Out: A Day of Experiential Groups by NSGP and BGSP

    • The Strategic Use of Internal Family Systems Techniques by Psychodynamic Psychotherapists to Facilitate Access to the Unconscious By Richard Schwartz, PhD & Adam Rosen, PhD, JD

    • Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts Conference

    • Reconstructing Palliative Care: A Beginning Workshop

    • Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Conference

    • AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy) Immersion by Diana Fosha, PhD

    • A Soulful Warrior’s Six Session Journey to Transformation Through AEDP by Jerry Lamagna, LCSW

    • AAPCSW: American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work

    • SIETAR: Intercultural Trainers USA Annual Conference, Denver, CO

    • REIKI:

      • Usui Reiki Level 1 (2008)

      • Usui Reiki Level2 (2012)

      • Certified Usui Reiki Master Teacher (2023)

    • Vipassana 10 days Silent Meditation

    • Fostering Intercultural Awareness and Communication skills for Duke University Staff

    • Intercultural Competency and Leadership at International Leadership Conference

    • International Undergraduate Leadership Training Programs at Duke University

    • International Undergraduate Orientation at Duke University

    • Orientation program for Family & Caregivers of elders with dementia and medical illnesses

    • Mindfulness-based support group for older adults

You’re in the right place.

You are ready for a real shift—not just insight, but lasting change.

I’m here to support your body’s innate capacity to heal.

The Invitation Begins Here