Hello, thank you for stopping by. I’m Tomoko Masuda, a wife, mother, grandmother as well as a multicultural counselor.
I was born and raised in Ageo, Saitama, Japan and became a certified tax accountant. I got married and due to my husband’s job moved to America where I gave up everything I knew and had worked for in Japan.
It was hard to survive in a foreign country while raising three sons. At the time I wished I would have had someone, like a counselor, who could’ve understood me and have empathized with my situation from a cultural perspective. Nonetheless, I found a lot of support from many people in the U.S. and attended English classes at a community college. After gaining enough English proficiency I took a variety of courses which opened up a whole new world for me and sparked my interest in helping others.
While it was a struggle, after a short tryout period, I decided to become a counselor. I wanted to show my appreciation for all the help I had received and give back to those in similar situations as me in a professional way. I enrolled at Old Dominion University in, Norfolk, Virginia and began my journey. Upon completing the bachelor program and later a masters program at Radford University, I worked at the Family Preservation Services as a therapeutic day treatment counselor and as an intensive in-home counselor.
Due to my husband’s job once again, I returned to Japan after 22 years of living in the U.S. I experienced reverse culture shock which hit me very hard. I wanted to continue helping people with mental health issues in Japan and worked to obtain the certificate of Rinsho-Shinrishi (Japanese clinical psychologist) and the national license of Konin-Shinrishi (Certified Public Psychologist).
Now I do private counseling and work at a mental health clinic as a psychotherapist. I became a clinical member of the International Mental Health Professionals in Japan (IMHPJ) in an effort to help Japanese and non-Japanese people with needs in Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, PTSD, OCD, Stress／Anger Management, Self-care skills, Assertive Communication skills, Habitual Behaviors, Relationship issues, family/Marital issues, Developmental disorders (Adult), and Intercultural/Multicultural issues.
I believe each person has it within themselves to overcome their own obstacles. It may be hard to see, but with a little help, one can become aware of and utilize their own inner-strength to conquer difficult issues in their life. I’m here to guide you through this process.
Tomoko Masuda