Japanese/English Bilingual Practitioner

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 a 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. She is a doctoral student in the Sport and Performance Psychology program at the University of Western States.

Believing in the therapeutic power of creative expression and imagination, Junko sees that metaphoric and creative experiences can reflect daily life experiences. Thus, she has been exploring 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. Junko's aim is 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, and families.