
Karisa Morikawa, LSWAIC
Providing therapy, somatic coaching, and consultation services.
about me.
Hi! I’m Karisa Morikawa, a therapist, somatically trained coach, and consultant. My work lives at the intersection of personal and social transformation, grounded in a commitment to embodied healing and radical social change. Our individual and collective struggles live within and between us and are deeply shaped by oppressive systems. I aim to honor these realities by holding space for both personal and systemic context, trusting that healing and repair are possible alongside the ongoing work for liberation.
Originally from the east coast, I moved to Duwamish and Coast Salish land (Seattle, WA) in 2012. I move through the world as a queer, mixed-race East Asian person of Japanese and European ancestry. I am shaped by my experiences as a child of an immigrant, a survivor, a healer, a co-conspirator, an organizer, and a recovering perfectionist continually learning how to soften and stay open to the messy parts of being human. Raised within a fundamentalist belief system rooted in rigid moral absolutes, I now hold a commitment to disrupting binary thinking and expanding my capacity to be with complexity and contradiction.
Over the past decade, I’ve worked in community-based nonprofit settings where I’ve provided social service support, facilitated groups, designed and managed programs, dreamt of and co-created community responses to harm, and advocated for policies and practices with a lens of abolition, accountability, and care. Currently, I offer one-on-one therapy and coaching, as well as organizational consulting and facilitation.
Healing is not something we do alone. It happens in community, through relationships, and in service of a more liberated world.
approach
My approach is curious, compassionate, and values-driven. Living into my values requires a consistent practice of centered accountability– accountability to myself, to community, to spirit, and to the natural world. I commit to moving with intention and integrity through ongoing political education, engaging in my own healing, supervision, peer collaboration, asking for feedback, and rigorous self-reflection. The values below are core to how I move through this work.
Relationality
Under capitalism, this work is set up to be transactional. Grounded in the belief that relationships are the heart of all transformative work, I am committed to being authentic, attuned, and collaborative. I practice reciprocity, honoring that I am learning and being transformed alongside those I work with. I hold boundaries as a vital part of building trust, both with self and others. I embody this by staying connected to my own needs, limits, and capacity, and support you to do the same.
Agency
I trust the lived expertise of those I work with. I offer ideas as invitations, not directives, creating space for your leadership and self-determination, while providing structure and guidance to support meaningful transformation. I welcome transparent conversations about power dynamics, financial barriers, case notes, diagnoses, conflict, and the constraints of the systems we are navigating. Informed consent is essential. I offer choices at every step and encourage you to stay connected to your intuition, values, and inner knowing as we move through this work together.
Honoring Complexity
Transformation requires us to hold complexity, not collapse into either/or thinking. I make space for grappling with the tensions of longing to live in alignment with our values while navigating the systems that erode them, the coexistence of joy and grief, and the entanglement of complicity and care. I stay present with anger, numbness, guilt, despair when they arise while tending to imagination and possibility. I work to interrupt the false dichotomy between those who cause harm and those who are harmed, and honor that we can hold accountability and dignity at the same time.
offerings
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My approach to coaching is informed by my training in somatics which understands that healing and transformation are not just cognitive…they are embodied. Our bodies hold our lived experiences, histories, survival strategies, ancestral practices, wisdom, and so much more. In our work together, we’ll explore practices that help you reconnect with your embodied knowing, supporting you to move through the world with greater intention, alignment, and self-trust.
Rather than asking “What’s wrong with you?” somatics asks, “What do you long for? What truly matters to you?” Through embodiment practices, creative exploration, and deep internal reflection, we uncover what in you is asking to be named, felt, or transformed. Together, we surface and shift patterns that may be keeping you stuck. I am committed to meeting you with curiosity, care and deep respect for your journey. I support you in honoring exactly where you are while making space for more liberatory, life-affirming possibilities.
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In my attachment coaching practice, I support individuals in processing relational wounds and cultivating secure, authentic connections. Drawing from my certification in Somatic Attachment Therapy through The Embody Lab, I use a somatic approach to addressing attachment trauma by exploring the wisdom within adaptive attachment strategies (often referred to as anxious, avoidant, or disorganized), and gently working with the early experiences that shaped them. Together, we build tools and practices that support trust, connection, and a greater sense of rootedness in relationship with self, others, and the natural world.
I recognize that systemic oppression, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, colonialism, and other forms of structural injustice, can profoundly shape our relational patterns and interrupt access to the connection we all deserve. In our work together, we not only tend to personal relational dynamics, but also make space to name and navigate the broader conditions that impact your sense of safety and belonging. We explore how relationships anchored in shared values, boundaries, and care can become sites of healing.
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We all deserve spaces where we can feel, process, and be witnessed. I work collaboratively with you to create a space that is intentional and responsive to their unique needs, desires, and lived experiences. My work integrates Brainspotting, Somatic Attachment Therapy, Talk Therapy, Relational Therapy, parts work, and a range of embodiment practices.
I believe growth requires us to ask deep questions, stay with the unknown, and make space the parts of ourselves we were taught to hide. A core part of my practice is supporting people reconnect with their bodies, especially in the aftermath of disconnection caused by trauma or survival strategies. You can expect me to show up with curiosity and compassion and ask questions like “can we slow down and be with that?” and “what is the wisdom in that behavior?"
I am particularly energized to support people to:
navigate relationship dynamics (familial, platonic, romantic, professional, etc.) with accountability and intention. I have experience using a relationship anarchy and non monogamous lens.
metabolize trauma and work through internalized oppression
explore the intersections of religious trauma and queerness
navigate transitions
process grief— personal, intergenerational, historical, and ancestral
connect with needs, desires, and longings
work on boundaries
I prioritize working with people who are:
BIPOC
Queer
Neurodivergent
Organizers, healers, and front line workers
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I partner with individuals, organizations, and coalitions who are working toward collective transformation. Whether it’s holding space for learning, strengthening internal capacity, or building values-aligned strategies, I offer facilitation, coaching, and consulting supporting teams to move forward with clarity and intention. This work takes many forms, including:
Facilitation
Design and facilitate retreats, workshops, and strategic convenings that center equity, team cohesion, and collective learning.
Support facilitation for community organizations or coalitions doing cross-sector partnerships with government or system stakeholders to foster alignment, relationship-building, and action planning.
Train organizations to deliver trauma-informed, culturally responsive facilitation for youth programs, staff training, volunteer onboarding, and leadership development cohorts.
Technical Assistance
Provide technical assistance, offer constructive feedback, and assist organizations in developing clear, compelling grant narratives, budgets, and evaluation plans that reflect community values and funder priorities.
Provide tailored technical assistance to nonprofit, public sector, and grassroots organizations in areas including program design, stakeholder engagement and outreach
Offer capacity-building support to organizations and system partners, with a focus on equity-centered practice and community accountability.
Support organizations in aligning policies, programs, and practices with mission and values.
Coaching
Offer coaching to individuals navigating leadership development and supervisory roles.
Support leaders in cultivating embodied presence, clarity, and resilience through trauma-informed, relational coaching approaches.
Provide somatic coaching for providers working in youth development, mental health, and movement spaces to support burnout recovery, sustainability and coping with secondary and vicarious trauma.
Program Development
Support organizations with curriculum design focused on social-emotional learning, identity development, boundaries and accountability, system navigation, and youth advocacy.
Provide project and program management support for the full lifecycle of a project including ideation, partnership development, budgeting, facilitation, evaluation, and funder reporting.
Support organizations develop data-informed evaluation tools to include participant feedback and measure impact.
Support organizations to align program goals with mission, values, and available resources for sustainable implementation.
experience
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Perfectly Queer Counseling, Sept 2024-June 2025
Intern therapist: Provided trauma-informed therapy for queer and trans folks using somatic and relational frameworks and co-created personalized therapeutic approach grounded in client experience, goals, and identity.
Young Women Empowered, January 2022-July 2024
Manager of Programs, Outreach, and Advocacy: Designed and facilitated youth development programs that centered BIPOC young women and gender expansive people, supervised a team of program coordinators, led outreach strategies to expand enrollment and deepen partnerships, and trained 100+ mentors and facilitators annually on trauma-informed facilitation, youth engagement, and safety protocols.
CHOOSE 180, November 2018-January 2022
Director of Advocacy and Systems Innovation: Established and led the organization's first advocacy department securing new funding streams and authoring grants and impact reports, directed policy advocacy efforts to expand restorative justice and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, built and centered relationships with community-based partners to cultivate community power and collaboration, developed internal policies centered in equity, livable wages, and shared decision-making, supervised the launch of CHOOSE 180’s Teaching & Advancement Team which delivers technical assistance to peer organizations and system partners and CHOOSE180’s Youth and Young Adult Advocacy Program, Developed and managed relationships with legal system, education, and philanthropic stakeholders to align systems with community needs.
Helped to create, fund, and launch Restorative Community Pathways, a $6.2M community-led youth diversion initiative securing alternatives to prosecution for hundreds of youth through a collaborative community and system partnerships.
System Navigator: Provided trauma-informed case management and legal system navigation support to youth and their families navigating the juvenile legal system.
YMCA Young Adult Services, September 2016-November 2018
Case Manager: Provided wraparound case management support and legal system advocacy for youth and young adults who were gang/group involved and/or were navigating the criminal legal system.
Rapid Rehousing Resource Navigator: Supported young adults experiencing homelessness through housing-first, harm reduction, and trauma-informed practices.
ROOTS Young Adult Shelter, Dec 2015-Sept 2017
Program Manager and Anti-oppression lead: Oversaw shelter operations to create as safe and accessible of an environment as possible for young adults accessing the shelter, co-developed and implemented an anti-oppression curriculum training staff and volunteers on the intersections of race, class, and sexual orientation with homelessness, and co-facilitated weekly affinity dialogue sessions for guests of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
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Licensed Social Worker Associate Independent Clinical Washington state | Credential #: SC.70005878
Degrees:
Masters in Social work, University of Washington
Bachelors in Social Work, University of Washington
Certifications:
Mind-Body Coaching Certification, Embody Lab
Somatic Attachment Therapy Certification, Embody Lab (in progress)
Somatic EMDR Certification, Embody Lab (in progress)
Trainings:
Brainspotting Phase 1, Awaken Consulting
Creative Facilitation Parts 1 & 2, Partners for Youth Empowerment
Working with Dysphoria, Trans Wellbeing