Asuna Osako

Seeking help takes courage and strength! I’m here to help you consciously access and nurture this strength and foster your uniqueness. Together we will work to activate your inherent self-healing potential so that you can live a full life, even with the hardships that exist in your outer or inner worlds. By understanding your past, it becomes possible to see what no longer serves you. In having your story witnessed in a safe enough space, it becomes possible to unburden the pain of the past. And with this combination, it becomes possible to start making the changes necessary to be the person you want to be mentally, emotionally, physically, relationally, and spiritually.

As a social worker and drama therapist, I draw from a variety of methods that invite all parts of the self and involves the mind, body, and spirit. My work is grounded in a justice oriented, trauma-focused, anti-oppression, and compassion-based perspective, inclusive of all identities and abilities. Tailoring to the needs of each client, I integrate insight-oriented talk therapy and psychoeducation with other embodied methods such as creative arts, mindfulness-based practices, inner child healing, somatic (body) based approaches and more. I also utilize Brainspotting, a brain-body, focused mindfulness, and relational based method that helps client’s access and heal unprocessed trauma through eye positions.

I am bilingual in Japanese and have extensive experience working with survivors of gender-based violence (domestic/interpersonal violence, sexual violence) and trauma. I also have a passion for working with those who identify as queer or questioning, multicultural individuals and TCKs (Third Culture Kids), and artists/creatives struggling with identity, cross-cultural issues, and self-acceptance.

Qualifications

School	Columbia School of Social Work
Master’s Degree	Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice
Year graduated	2012
License No. and State	087595 New York

Postgraduate Training

• Drama Therapy, North American Drama Therapy Association
• SIFI certification, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
• Creative Art Therapies in Trauma Treatment, Kint Institute
• Palliative and End of Life Care, NYU Silver School of Social Work
• Brainspotting Phase 1, 2, Expansion. West Coast Psychotherapy & Pacific Trauma Center
• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Theory, Practice, & Adaptations for Telehealth, Pat Ogden
• Healing Shame: Understanding, Transforming, and Reducing Shame, Center for Healing Shame
• Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies, Collectively Rooted