About me

Junko Araki is a Japanese/English bilingual Licensed Professional Counselor in DC and Virginia, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Maryland, and Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist.

Junko has background in dance and somatic counseling psychology. She has earned a bachelor's of arts degree in performing arts from Ochanomizu University in Tokyo, Japan and a master's of arts degree in somatic counseling psychology with concentration in dance/movement therapy from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Believing in the therapeutic power of creative expression and imagination, Junko sees that metaphoric and creative experiences can reflect daily life experiences and thus she has continued to explore how to bridge those experiences and how to provide alternative perspectives to clients for their healing and well-being.

With her belief that our physiology and psychology are inseparable, Junko utilizes mindfulness-based, body-oriented interventions, and creative experiential activities as therapeutic tools, along with verbal interventions, to support her clients in making choices for the integration, understanding, and change they seek. Junko has executed this philosophy throughout her professional experiences while counseling children, adolescents, adults, families, and ballet/dance students at inpatient, day treatment, residential, outpatient programs, schools, and private practice.