Provider Spotlight: Fumiyo Nishimoto
“People aren’t broken. They’re beautiful.”
This month’s spotlight provider, Fumiyo Nishimoto, MSW, LCSW, lives this incredible statement in all her work with clients. Fumiyo is the owner of Cultivating a New Life and finds beauty in each person’s story and their ability to reassemble their lives after - or even during - heartbreak, illness, and trauma.
Originally from Osaka, Japan, Fumiyo sees her life and her work through a multicultural lens that understands the wide range of experiences people live each day. She utilizes narrative therapy with her clients, centering them as the experts of their own lives and helping them externalize what they have internalized.
By identifying and putting together the stories that encompass their experiences, Fumiyo helps clients create some safe distance between themselves and their traumatic events as they heal. She works primarily with individuals and couples in her practice.
Breaking the Cycle of Violence
Fumiyo is very open about sharing how her early life involved considerable violence. Her father was involved with Japan's Yakuza organized crime syndicate, and violence was part of Fumiyo’s life. At age 17, she left Japan to pursue her education and break the cycle of violence.
Those experiences from her younger years heavily inform the work she does now. Her decision to end this generational violence led her to social work and therapy so that she could help build healthy families.
After completing school, Fumi worked at Providence and in nursing homes before going to work at the Oregon State Hospital. She spent nine years working in the hospital doing forensic psychiatric social work - the work that happens when someone has committed a crime while mentally ill.
Fumiyo shares that because her father was involved in criminal activities, she understands the vast number of influences that can lie behind these choices and behaviors. Although his activities were not due to mental illness, Fumiyo’s background allowed her to serve these folks without bringing any shame or judgment.
Kintsugi
In Japan, there is a beautiful pottery technique called kintsugi. This practice restores fragmented and broken pottery using lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. It embraces the flawed and broken rather than discarding it. And it seeks to restore wholeness without ignoring the scars.
This same philosophy informs Fumiyo’s narrative therapy work with people living all sorts of fractured experiences. They can return to wholeness. And the ‘glue’ that puts their pieces back together is strong and beautiful.
Gender-Affirming Care
Not only does Fumiyo bring a multicultural perspective to her practice, but she also offers inclusive gender-affirming care to the LGBTQ+ community. She acknowledges and understands the trauma this community faces and how that impacts their mental health and the wellness of society as a whole.
When Fumiyo started at the Oregon State Hospital, there was no gender-affirming care or community. It was a devastating lack of care with tremendous impacts. But she’s proud and happy to share that by the time she left that job, the hospital had a gender-affirming policy in place. Furthering her work with LGBTQ+ folks, Fumiyo has studied and mentored with Dr. David Nylund, Clinical Director of the Gender Health Center in Sacramento, CA.
Treating Historical Trauma
Every day, Fumiyo must turn away potential clients due to the high demand. She is currently looking to hire an associate to see more clients and serve more people.
Fumiyo shares that part of the problem is a drastic shortage of BIPOC therapists who can offer non-oppressive, social-justice-oriented therapy. This lack means there aren't enough providers who have experienced historical trauma to understand what their clients live with each day. Clients who have endured cultural trauma deserve therapists who have lived it, too.
Outside the Office
When she’s not with clients, Fumiyo loves to cook for her friends and share a good meal together. Food and cooking are a large part of the culture and community in Osaka, and Fumiyo brought that love with her to the US. She often talks about cooking with her clients, too!
Her other love is rock climbing. Fumiyo started climbing to build upper body strength to help her tennis game and was immediately in love with the sport. During a climb, Fumiyo thinks about her therapy practice, clients, and friends as she makes each move.
When she moves through her fear to take the next step in a climb, she connects with the fear her clients face as they take each new step in therapy. Fumiyo shares that climbing is super empowering for her, as if she’s gone through a therapy session. It brings a flow state where she can see the entire picture of an experience, and it’s a beautiful moment.
Ready To Connect?
Fumiyo currently sees clients virtually and in person at her SW Portland office. She accepts most major insurance plans, particularly OHP, Medicaid, PacifcSource, and Kaiser. Fumiyo finds these plans to be the most ethical for mental health care since they generally don’t dictate the number of sessions a client can use.
“Sad is sad,” she states. “It doesn’t matter if you’re privileged or marginalized; sad is sad and deserves help.” If you’re interested in learning more about Fumiyo and checking her availability, you can contact her here.
