Therapy with me
As a child, I experienced a serious illness.
What carried me through was art.
Turning what I could not put into words into shape and color.
And having someone witness what I had created.
It did not require explanation — and yet, somehow, it affirmed that I existed.
It became a quiet place that held me.
Over time, I came to understand something essential.
The experience of being truly seen by another person is more than comfort or relief. It is the felt sense that “I am allowed to be here.”
That experience continues to shape my work as a therapist.
I believe that, regardless of circumstances, people carry an innate capacity to heal. And that this capacity begins to emerge — often quietly — within a safe, attuned relationship.
In our work together, we create a space where what has been unspoken can begin to take form.
Sometimes through words, sometimes through creative expression.
When those parts of you are witnessed, something begins to shift — often in ways that feel both subtle and deeply meaningful.
If you have spent a long time feeling unseen, or unsure how to put your experience into words, this may be a place where that can begin to change.
Yasuno Yoshizawa
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist/ Board Certified Registered Art Therapist℠
Areas of focus
Cultural identity & the experience of living between worlds
Reverse culture shock, returnees, Third Culture Kids (TCK), immigrants, international marriages, and expat families. The sense of disorientation, loss, and rebuilding that comes with crossing cultural boundaries.
Neurodiversity, sensitivity & the quiet exhaustion of feeling different
Feeling deeply, processing the world differently, becoming overwhelmed in social situations, or carrying the chronic sense that you never quite fit in. Whether this comes from neurodiversity, heightened sensitivity, or simply experiencing the world differently, therapy can become a place where your way of being is understood rather than pathologized.
※Please note that my practice focuses on psychotherapy. I do not provide diagnostic assessments or prescribe medication. Whether or not you have a formal diagnosis, therapy can provide a space to better understand your experiences and find ways of living that feel more authentic to you.
Creative people who feel like they don't belong
Artists, designers, writers, makers — those for whom creativity and living are inseparable. Or those who once used making as a way to hold themselves together.
Identity & relationships
The disorienting feeling of not knowing who you are, chronic difficulty fitting in, and the fatigue that comes from navigating relationships when you've always felt a little out of place.
My approach
At the core of my work is Self psychology and attachment theory.
Together, we explore how you came to be who you are. Drawing on early experiences and relational patterns, we look at what you have needed — and what may have gone unmet. The therapeutic relationship itself becomes a living example of how change can feel: a space where something new can emerge between two people.
Depending on your needs, I also draw from intersubjective approach, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and culturally sensitive approaches — particularly for those navigating the complexities of cross-cultural experience.
In art therapy, I incorporate a phenomenological approach — turning toward the work itself as a source of meaning. What was made, and what it evokes, becomes another way of listening to what language alone cannot reach.
Yasuno Yoshizawa LMFT, ATR-BC
I was born and raised in Japan, and spent twelve years living in the United States — where I completed my graduate training in Marriage and Family Therapy and became a Board Certified Art Therapist. I know firsthand what it means to live between cultures, to feel at home in two worlds and yet not quite fully in either.
All sessions are currently offered online, in Japanese and English.
Credentials
Professional affiliations
The State of California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT#112040)
Board Certified Registered Art Therapist℠ (ATR‑BC®#19-154)
National Council of Certified Dementia Care Practitioner (CDP#243855)
UCLA PEERS® for Adolescents Certified Provider
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapist (CAMFT)
American Art Therapy Association
Japan Creative Arts Association