Hi, I’m Yoko
Somatic & Integrative Psychotherapist
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
Why Work with Me?
Talk therapy offers insight, clarity, and meaningful support — and I value that deeply. But over time, I noticed something important:
Insight alone didn’t always create the lasting change my clients were longing for.
Many clients understood why they felt the way they did—
yet their bodies still carried tension, fear, and old survival patterns.
When I began integrating Brainspotting, something shifted.
I witnessed changes in my clients, and -
Clients started to say things like:
• “Something feels different”
• “That things that used to overwhelm me… it doesn’t any more”
• “I feel lighter in my body”
That’s the kind of transformation I want for you
⋙ Healing that is felt, not forced
Therapeutic Approaches
A somatic, culturally grounded, and relationally attuned path toward embodied healing.
I hold space with honesty, care, and deep respect. In our sessions, you’re met with presence—not pressure—so you can grow at a pace that feels right for your nervous system.
In addition to Brainspotting, my approach blends:
Trauma-informed and Intersectionality lens
Mind-body therapy
Nervous-system work
Depth-oriented & psychodynamic psychotherapy
Parts work informed
Humanistic frameworks
Energy-informed (Reiki-aware) principles
Sex-positive & queer-affirming care
Liberation-informed healing
Psycho-spiritual lens
✎ A gentle note on spirituality
For clients who are drawn to symbolic or archetypal tools—such as astrology, tarot, or culturally rooted spiritual symbols—I offer them as invitations, not prescriptions. These elements are used only if they resonate with you, as a way to deepen reflection, access intuition, and explore meaning beyond language; for a psychospiritual integration work.
What this means in our work
I trust your inner process.
Your body already carries wisdom and capacity for repair. My role is to stay attuned, stay curious with you, walk alongside your journey, and follow what naturally arises—not forcing, not rushing.
This work supports you in:
● Reconnecting with your intuition, inner voice, and the signals your body has been trying to communicate
● Releasing perfectionism, self-criticism, and long-held survival patterns
● Reclaiming grounding, steadiness, and inner freedom
— so you can move through daily life with more steadiness, ease, and presence.
Who I Help
I work with people who are ready to stop feeling stuck and to start doing the inner work—so they can live with more freedom, ease, and authenticity
I often support:
Students (college + graduate)
International, immigrant, and adult children of immigrants
Bilingual, bicultural, and mixed-race individuals
Third Culture Kids (TCKs)
Caregivers and those holding a lot for others
Adults in transition
Professionals under stress (educators, scientists, etc.)
Creatives (artists, dancers, musicians)
LGBTQIA+ individuals + relationships
Polyamorous / non-monogamous relationships
Therapists, healthcare providers, and helpers
Languages
English
Japanese
“The body is where our trauma lives. And the body is where our healing happens”
Dr. Resmaa Menakem (The author of My Grandmother’s Hands)
Additional Ways I Support Individuals & Communities
Alongside individual therapy, I also offer:
Somatic Integration Support Group for BIPOC Clinicians (TBA in the spring)
Healing retreats and workshops for Female Clinicians of Color
All services are grounded in culturally responsive, nervous-system–informed, and embodied healing.
👉 Let’s collaborate to create a healing experience for you or your team.
What Shapes My Work
Before I became a psychotherapist, I spent years designing and leading experiential, intercultural trainings and leadership programs. I worked with people who were trying to understand themselves more deeply, navigate identity and belonging, and build meaningful connections — and I learned how powerful it is to have a space where you don’t have to perform, explain, or push through.
Those experiences taught me how our histories, cultures, and nervous systems shape the way we move through the world — and how healing grows when we feel grounded, seen, and supported.
Today, whether we’re working one-on-one, in a group, or through a training for your organization, my role is to help you slow down, reconnect with yourself, and soften the patterns that have been carrying you for so long. I bring the skill of a trained facilitator + the presence of a holistic, relational therapist to create spaces where clarity, connection, and transformation can unfold at a sustainable pace.
My Story
I grew up moving between cultures, languages, and roles—always sensing the “in-between” spaces. As a Japanese immigrant and adult third-culture kid, I learned early what it feels like to search for belonging while carrying more than I should have had to.
These experiences shape the way I hold space today: with cultural humility, relational depth, and trust that your nervous system carries its own wisdom for healing.
I honor the feather—with respect for Native American traditions—as a symbol of balance and truth, and the ocean as a reminder of resilience, expansiveness, and our connection to something larger. I also acknowledge that I live and work on the traditional homeland of the Massachusett people, whose presence continues today.
My role isn’t to fix you, but to walk with you as you reconnect to what’s already inside you—your clarity, voice, and inner truth—at a pace that feels safe, spacious, and grounded.
If you’ve ever felt unseen, in-between, or like you had to hold everything together to belong, you’re not alone. You belong here.
My RESUME
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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)
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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
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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
Developmental Trauma model of Brainspotting Digging Roots 1.0 BIPOC, Steve Sawyer
Brainspotting with LGBTQIA2S+ clients, Specialty Workshop, Cindy Smith and Pie Frey
Brainspotting with Relationships, Specialty Workshop, Jaegil Lee
Brainspotting with Children and Adolescents, Specialty Workshop, Monika Bauman
Posttraumatic Growth: Brainspotting & Parts Road Map to Liberation, Specialty Workshop, Cherie Lindberg
Harmonic Brain Healing, Specialty Workshop, Cynthia Schwartzberg
How to do Intensives, Specialty Workshop, 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
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Linda Thai’s Certificate in Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies
EMBODY LAB Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy
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
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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