Trained DBT therapist | English-speaking

Therapist

Hi, I'm Mie

I'm glad that you found DBT Tokyo. Thank you for visiting.

I'm a certified clinical psychologist and certified public psychologist in Japan.
My clinical orientation is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) which works well with individuals with emotion dysregulation and its consequences.
I work with adolescents and adults with diverse backgrounds and diverse psychological problems in multicultural Tokyo.
I offer therapies and counseling mainly in English and Japanese. I also speak French and Spanish.
Once a week, I served as a school counselor in public schools in Tokyo between 2015 and 2023.

DBT and me

I encountered DBT when I was doing the practicum at Douglas University Institute in Montreal, Canada in 2014. I was first overwhelmed by the thickness of the manual, and I guess I was even doubtful of the skills that DBT was trying to teach. Mindfulness (or meditation, I thought at that time) was something that I just could not get myself into. Distress tolerance skills seemed almost too simple and small a step to get someone out of self-destructive behaviors. Emotional regulation starts with giving a precise name to every emotion. Can we reclaim that function from emojis?! Interpersonal effectiveness skills almost seemed to be stating the obvious. What do I and my clients get out of this?

Six months of training was enough to see what DBT does for whom, and to say without doubt that DBT was what I wanted to offer to my future clients. DBT works. When the life feels like one big chunk of complicated problems, we have to start from the obvious and the simplest, and DBT does just that. Since I left Montreal, I have completed DBT intensive training through Behavioral Tech: A Linehan Institute Training Company. I have a weekly therapist consultation with 3 therapists in Australia whom I met through Behavioral Tech. My love of DBT grew so much that I could not resist the urge to open my own studio of DBT. So, I did in 2020.

You might have heard that DBT is for someone who is severely suicidal and has borderline personality disorder. Well, it is true, but I learned a ton of skills from DBT myself. The DBT skills can become a way of life for anyone.

A bit more about me

Before becoming a psychologist, I worked for an international NGO that promoted children's rights. The work took me to more than 25 corners of Asia, West Africa and Latin America. I worked with a global team of colleagues as well as adolescents and adults from the communities. I have lived in Christian, Budhist, Muslim and Hindu cultures.

As an expat, I moved from country to country with very rewarding but demanding job, during which I married, divorced, remarried, gave birth to a child, occasionally single parented, studied and attempted a career change. I understand what it means to be away from your family and friends, to be married to a person from different culture, and to work full time speaking your second or third foreign language while raising a child. I understand the dynamics that moving internationally adds to the psychological state of individuals and families. I understand the growth pain that you have to go through as you decide to be a global citizen. I know the importance of developing a local support network as you integrate yourself into the new environment.

I hope my background could be a nice add-on to DBT to work with you.

Mie Takaki

<Mie's DBT training history>

DBT for Substance Use Disorders 2023

Behavioral Tech: Linehan Institute Training Company

2-day training in DBT for individuals with substance use disorders (DBT-SUD). Additional skills to address addictive behaviors.

Strengthening Your Practice of DBT 2022

Behavioral Tech: A Linehan Institute Training Company

3-day course for DBT-trained clinicians to keep abreast of the most recent research findings and evolution of DBT.

Intensive Training in the DBT Prolonged Exposure Protocol for PTSD 2021

British Isles DBT Training

4 days of workshop on applying Prolonged Exposeure in conjunction with the comprehensive DBT to treat PTSD.

DBT Skills for Adolescents and families 2020

Behavioral Tech: A Linehan Institute Training Company powered by Psychwire

6 weeks of didactical instruction on how to run multifamily skills group

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Plus 2018

Behavioral Tech: A Linehan Institute Training Company powered by Psychwire

16 months of didactical instruction on the foundation of DBT, team formation, and skills training instruction.
weekly therapist consultation (The consultation continued after the training and it is still running weekly today.)

Practicum for MSc Clinical Psychology 2014

Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada

A supervised field placement of 311 direct patient contact hours and 429 additional clinical hours at tth mood disorder and suicidal behavior unit which run multi-family comprehensive DBT program in English and French.