Practitioner record · Checked 9 Oct 2026

Shiho Murakami has been in practice 6 years and is licensed in Maryland. Shiho lists LGBT, family conflicts and trauma and abuse among 49 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Shiho's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

6years in practice
49subjects listed
10approaches listed
2languages spoken

01 · Who Shiho works with

Shiho works with LGBT, family conflicts and trauma and abuse

Shiho lists 5 specialisms and 44 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Shiho chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • LGBT
  • Family conflicts
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Parenting issues
  • Self esteem
Also experienced with
  • Abandonment
  • Adoption and foster care
  • Attachment issues
  • Autism and Asperger Syndrome
  • Blended family issues
  • Body image
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Codependency
  • Communication problems
  • Control issues
  • Divorce and separation
  • Domestic violence
  • Drug and alcohol addiction
  • Eating and food-related issues
  • Family of origin issues
  • Family problems
  • First responder issues
  • Forgiveness
  • Gender dysphoria
  • Guilt and shame
  • Immigration issues
  • Impulsivity
  • Infidelity
  • Isolation / loneliness
  • Life purpose
  • Midlife crisis
  • Money and financial issues
  • Mood disorders
  • Multicultural concerns
  • Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
  • Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Prejudice and discrimination
  • Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
  • Self-love
  • Sex addiction
  • Sexual assault and abuse
  • Sexuality
  • Smoking / vaping cessation
  • Social anxiety and phobia
  • Women's issues
  • Workplace issues
  • Young adult issues

02 · In Shiho's own words

What Shiho says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

I am licensed in Maryland with 6 years of professional work experience. I am licensed in District of Columbia as well. I have experience in helping clients with lgbt-related issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, & parenting issues. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs. It takes courage to seek out a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change. I am here to support & empower you in that journey.

Shiho Murakami, on the BetterHelp listing · read 9 Oct 2026

03 · How Shiho works

The 10 approaches Shiho lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Shiho lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Shiho's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Shiho runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT
Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.
Attachment-Based Therapy
Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.
Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Dialectical Behaviour TherapyDBT
A structured skills-led adaptation of CBT built around holding two things at once: accepting yourself as you are and working to change. Teaches concrete skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationships. Developed for people whose feelings arrive at overwhelming intensity, and strongest-evidenced there.
Motivational InterviewingMI
A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.
Narrative Therapy
Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.
Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT
Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.
Internal Family SystemsIFS
Treats the mind as made up of parts - the critic, the one who withdraws, the one that keeps everything running - each of which is trying to protect you. The work is getting to know them rather than overruling them.

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Shiho practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Shiho's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Shiho at this point.

  2. Naming Shiho specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Shiho is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Shiho.

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Shiho

Built from what Shiho actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Shiho's - Shiho has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

  • “You offer sessions in English and Japanese. Does the work change depending on which we use?”

    People often reach different material in a first language than in a second. Worth naming before you choose.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
LCSW-C
Licensed in
Maryland
Licence
MD LCSW-C 23159, DC LICSW LC200001939
Licence number
LC200001939
Licence expires
31 Jul 2027
NPI
1659094340
Years in practice
6
Gender
Female
Languages
English, Japanese
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
15 May 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Shiho's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 9 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Shiho. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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