We are so excited to announce that clinical psychologist Mie Takaki, MSc, has become the first DBT Linehan Board Certified Clinician in Japan!
Why Mie Chose To Get Certified
Mie is the founder of DBT Tokyo, and the translator of the Japanese version of Dr. Marsha Linehan’s memoir Building A Life Worth Living. She felt motivated to become certified because she wanted her clients to feel confident that they were receiving evidence-based, adherent DBT at her practice. DBT remains fairly unknown in Japan, and there are few DBT resources translated into Japanese. Potential clients, therefore, may often be concerned about whether they’re receiving adherent DBT. Mie says, “I wanted my clients to have the hope that they are in the right place for DBT, and the certification does just that.”
Where Her DBT Journey Began
Mie was first introduced to DBT in 2014 during her Master’s practicum at Douglas Mental Health Institute in Montreal, Canada. At that time, Mie had spent the majority of her career working for an international NGO that promoted children’s rights, and she had pursued education in psychology as a way to enhance her abilities as a child rights practitioner.
At Douglas, Mie witnessed how DBT allowed teens and parents to reconnect with each other through intense emotional dysregulation. She witnessed how DBT’s concrete skills allowed the families to more effectively tackle life’s complicated problems. She saw how DBT, when provided well, just works. It inspired her to redirect her career towards becoming a practicing psychologist and a DBT therapist specifically.
“Jazzing Up” Adherent DBT for Multicultural Clients
Beyond translating Building A Life Worth Living, Mie has taken great strides to make DBT’s life-changing potential more accessible to her diverse Japanese, expat, and multicultural clients.
She describes her practice as “jazzing up” DBT — a phrase she learned and embraced during her DBT intensive training. She believes that thinking about and doing DBT in multiple languages—Japanese, English, and French!—has enhanced her understanding of DBT’s principles. By deeply studying and knowing the underlying “classical” notes of adherent DBT, Mie then trusts herself to flexibly and creatively deliver DBT in her own words to her cross-cultural clients.
DBT Principles Outside the Therapy Room
Mie’s passion for learning and innovation expands outside of the therapy room. An avid baker and cook, Mie is currently practicing the Building Mastery skill by learning how to make German Rye Bread and various global festive meals. A great believer in the importance of balancing the GIVE and FAST skills in her personal life, she finds cooking and sharing meals help her do that. Mie comes home for dinner with her family every night, no matter how busy she is. She also loves hosting parties, and she wishes she could invite us all to her table.
To learn more about Mie and her practice, visit DBT Tokyo
Welcome, Mie, to the DBT-LBC™ Certified Clinician community!
