Shiho Murakami

Shiho Murakami is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and an LCSW-C in Maryland with six years of professional experience. She works with adults facing questions about identity, family stress, trauma, parenting, and self-esteem. Sessions are offered in English and Japanese. She lists life purpose among her focuses and helps people who feel stuck or unsure what comes next.

Shiho uses a mix of practical therapies to help people manage upsetting thoughts and feelings. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to clarify values and small steps toward them. Attachment-based ideas inform work on close relationships and how early experiences shape current reactions.

In sessions she listens and reflects, then works with each person to try strategies that fit their daily life. That might include short behavioral experiments, skills for handling strong emotions, or clearer ways to ask for what is needed in relationships. The approach is collaborative and focused on what the person wants to change.

Her practice covers a wide range of concerns linked to family and identity, including adoption and foster care issues, blended family dynamics, caregiver stress, codependency, and trauma recovery. She also supports people dealing with substance use, eating and body image struggles, and communication problems.

People who choose Shiho can expect straightforward, goal-oriented sessions that combine problem-solving and attention to relationship patterns. If someone is wondering how to move forward after a big change, she helps break the situation into concrete steps and skills to try.

How her approaches translate to online work

Shiho uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors; this approach breaks problems into clear steps and practical exercises. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people name what matters to them and try small actions that reflect those values, which can feel useful when life direction is unclear. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns affect current connections and communication, helping people change how they respond in close relationships.

Finding the right mix of methods is part of the process. She works together with each person to decide which approaches fit their goals, needs, and preferences. That collaboration means adjusting pace, focusing on skills practice, or spending more time on relationship patterns as needed.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so confirm available online options before you book. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, allow for shorter check-ins when schedules demand it, and remove travel time from appointments. Many people find that doing behavioral experiments or communication practice between sessions is easier when therapy fits into their daily routine.