Mihoko Kusachi, LMHC

Mihoko Kusachi is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with ten years of counseling experience. She offers calm, nonjudgmental support and helps people take practical steps toward change. She speaks English and Japanese and brings life and work experience from Japan, Australia, and the United States.

Mihoko creates a space for honest conversation where thoughts and feelings can be named. She believes small changes add up and that people already carry inner resources to build on. Her work emphasizes mutual respect and a collaborative relationship between therapist and client.

Her background includes a master’s degree in counseling with a concentration in rehabilitation of people with disabilities. She also spent more than 20 years as a social worker and case manager in clinical settings in the San Francisco Bay Area and on the Big Island of Hawai'i. That mix of roles informs a practical, real-world approach to solving everyday problems.

Mihoko uses a body-mind approach that brings together client-centered principles, cognitive behavioral ideas, existential thinking, and mindfulness tools. Sessions often include talk, reflection, and simple sensory or relaxation exercises to ease distress and build coping skills. She helps people notice thought patterns, try new behaviors, and practice self-regulation techniques.

She works with issues such as stress, anxiety, grief, depression, relationship concerns, trauma and abuse, sleep and eating difficulties, ADHD, compassion fatigue, chronic illness and pain, and life transitions. Mihoko emphasizes culturally aware care and attention to intersecting identities while helping each person find practical ways to move forward.

How Mihoko's Approaches Translate to Online Support

Mihoko often draws from client-centered work, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness in sessions. Client-centered work focuses on listening closely and following the client's lead so people feel heard and understood. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps people notice unhelpful thoughts, test new ideas, and try small behavioral experiments to reduce anxiety or depression. Mindfulness practice teaches simple attention and breathing exercises that can calm the body and reduce reactivity.

Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the process and is decided together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and daily routines to pick strategies that fit the person's life. This collaborative planning means techniques can be adjusted over time as needs change.

The biography does not list specific online session formats, so confirm the available options before booking. Online work can make therapy easier to fit into a busy schedule and reduce travel time. It also supports brief check-ins, guided relaxation or breathing practices, and cognitive work that can be done via conversation or shared worksheets. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises and sensory-based techniques to remote sessions so people can work on coping skills in their everyday environment.