Scenic view of mountain range with rocky peaks and green rolling hills in the foreground, under a clear sky.

Naoko Funahashi, MS, MT-BC, LCAT

Scenic landscape with a large body of water in the foreground, surrounded by green hills and mountains under a cloudy sky.

About

Naoko is a licensed music therapist located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

She moved around multiple cities and countries, including Tokyo, Montreal, and New York, throughout her life. Before moving to Hawaii, she worked in New York as part of a mental health department within a private therapeutic educational system. There, she offered music therapy, within the DIR Floortime approach, to toddlers to young adults with various mental health challenges, Autism, developmental delays, and so on.

Naoko experienced a cultural transition when she left her home country, Japan, as a teenager. During such a time of not being able to express herself fully in a completely new language and culture, feeling detached from her own identity, music allowed her to experience the connection to herself and community with others without language. Ever since then, she has been a believer in music’s ability to foster expression and connection.

Naoko speaks Japanese, English, and French.



Approach

The sessions can be offered both in person and over Zoom.

Naoko offers individualized sessions, valuing every client’s uniqueness and individual differences. She believes in each individual’s potential and guides their self-actualization through a collaborative process between a therapist and a client.

Her sessions are offered through a trauma-informed and holistic lens and are influenced by a person-centered, psychodynamic, and humanistic approach.

For further information, please get in touch with her directly.


Qualifications

  • Board-Certified Music Therapist

  • Licenced Creative Arts Therapist (003201)

  • Master’s in Music Therapy at Molloy University in New York, USA

  • Bachelor’s in International Development and Music at McGill University in Montreal, Canada

  • DIR Floortime Certification (DIR201)

  • Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk Certification