Little Satori Psychotherapy
Hi, I’m Julia
I created Little Satori for people who don’t always feel like they fully belong in one place.
As someone who has navigated identity, culture, and not fitting neatly into one box, I understand how complex - and sometimes isolating - that experience can feel.
My work is grounded in creating a space where you don’t have to explain or simplify who you are. A space where all parts of you are welcome.
Why Little Satori?
Little Satori is named for my grandfather, Satori - a small-town doctor in Hiroshima who cared for everyone with 丁寧に (“teinei-ni”), offering deep presence and compassion. He aimed to treat each person with warmth, not concerned with their status in society. His quiet generosity and gentle approach are the spirit I hope to carry forward in my work.
In Japanese, satori means sudden enlightenment - a profound shift that most of us, as non-monks, aren’t waiting for or expecting. But we can experience small awakenings - little moments that make life feel a bit lighter, a “Little Satori.”
That is the heart of my practice: supporting these gentle openings and offering steadiness and guidance as they unfold.
The path that led me here
My path into therapy began long before I ever sat in a therapy room.
Before becoming a psychotherapist, I spent years in science and medical research. I earned my master’s degree from Weill Cornell Medical College and worked at organizations such as Pfizer and the National Institutes of Health.
Over time, however, I found myself drawn less to understanding people through data alone and more to the inner lives we often carry quietly beneath the surface - our relationships, identities, losses, and ways of surviving. That shift ultimately led me to pursue a degree in social work at Columbia University.
After graduating, I worked in outpatient clinics and group practices, where I gained extensive experience supporting clients navigating trauma, relationship challenges, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and identity-related concerns, particularly around belonging and cross-cultural experiences.
That journey continues to shape how I work today.
I believe therapy is not about fixing who you are, but about creating space to understand and love yourself more fully - with care, curiosity, and compassion.
How this path informs my work
This background allows me to hold both perspectives at once: the biological and psychological foundations of human experience and the deeply personal, emotional, and relational reality of each individual life.
I do not see these as separate.
They inform one another.
My aim is to translate this understanding into a therapeutic space that is steady, thoughtful, and human - where insight can emerge at its own pace.
Little Satori refers to small moments of insight- subtle shifts where something becomes a little clearer, a little lighter, or a little more possible. This idea also reflects how I understand this path itself: not as one sudden change, but as a series of gradual openings that led me here.
Training & Background
My work as a therapist is informed by an interdisciplinary path that began in the natural sciences and gradually moved toward clinical, relational, and trauma-focused care.
Each stage of this journey has shaped how I understand both the science of the mind and the lived experience of being human.
2008 | University of Rochester
B.S. in Chemistry (Honors)
2008–2012 |
Chemical research at National Institute of Health
PTSD research at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
2014 | Weill Cornell Medical College
M.S. in Pharmacology
2015 | Pfizer Japan
Clinical Development Researcher
2018 | Columbia University
M.S. in Social Work
2018–2025
Clinical experience in outpatient clinics and group practice settings, working with individuals and couples navigating trauma, anxiety, identity, and relational patterns.
Trainings: Trauma-Informed Therapy (certified), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focused Therapy, Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT)
2025 | Little Satori Psychotherapy
Founder of Little Satori Psychotherapy, PLLC
There’s space for all parts of you here.
You don’t have to choose between identities, explain every detail, or arrive with everything figured out. Therapy can simply be a place to slow down and feel more at home in yourself.