🍂Author Interview: Dr. Akira Olsen
In a world that moves faster than our minds and bodies can keep up with, many people find themselves overwhelmed, overstimulated, and unsure how to reconnect with who they truly are. The Journey to Self was written to meet that exact moment. As the author explains, “I wanted to bring helpful psychological ideas out of the therapy room and into everyday life,” a response to the growing number of people who appear capable on the outside yet feel disconnected or exhausted within.
Rooted in both Eastern mindfulness and Western psychology, the book offers readers a compassionate pause — a chance to listen inwardly, understand long‑standing patterns, and take practical steps toward a healthier relationship with themselves. It acknowledges the reality so many face today: “We live in a world that constantly asks for our attention… Our minds and bodies have very little time to recover.”
In this interview, we explore the inspirations behind the book, the therapeutic principles woven throughout its pages, and the author’s hope for anyone beginning their own journey toward self‑understanding and emotional clarity.
About the Book & Its Purpose
What inspired you to write The Journey to Self, and why did you feel this book was needed now?
I wrote The Journey to Self because I wanted to bring helpful psychological ideas out of the therapy room and into everyday life. I meet many people who look successful and capable on the outside, but inside they feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure of themselves. We have access to more information than ever, but information alone does not teach us how to understand our emotions or change old patterns.
I felt this book was especially important now because life moves so quickly. We are constantly told who to be, what to achieve, and even how we should feel. I wanted to offer readers a compassionate pause—a chance to listen inwardly, reconnect with what matters, and take practical steps toward a healthier relationship with themselves.
You speak directly to the exhaustion and overstimulation many people feel today. Why was acknowledging this reality important?
I wanted to acknowledge that many people are genuinely exhausted. We live in a world that constantly asks for our attention. There is social media, work pressure, family responsibility, financial stress, and difficult news coming at us all day. Our minds and bodies have very little time to recover.
If we ignore that reality, mental-health advice can feel like one more demand: meditate more, think positively, or just try harder. I wanted readers to know that feeling overwhelmed does not automatically mean something is wrong with them. Once we understand the larger context, shame can soften. Then we can ask a more useful question: “What is affecting me, what do I need, and what is one small step I can take right now?”
How do you hope readers will feel after completing the exercises in this book?
I hope readers feel more connected to themselves. I do not expect anyone to finish the book feeling completely healed or perfectly confident. I hope they feel that they understand themselves a little better and know how to return to themselves with more kindness.
I also hope readers feel less afraid of their emotions. Instead of immediately judging or avoiding a feeling, they may be able to pause, name it, and decide how to respond. Change is usually not one dramatic breakthrough. It is many small steps repeated over time. If someone becomes less self-critical, sets one healthier boundary, or makes one choice that reflects their values, that is meaningful progress.
🍂 Eastern Mindfulness Meets Western Psychology
4. Your Tokyo upbringing and Kendo practice deeply influence your work. How do these traditions shape your therapeutic approach?
Growing up in Tokyo and practicing Kendo taught me that awareness is not only something we think about—it is something we practice through the body. In Kendo, we learn posture, breathing, focus, timing, respect, and how to stay present under pressure. We learn to notice the difference between reacting impulsively and responding from a centered place.
That strongly influences my work as a psychologist. I often help people notice what is happening in their body and mind before they rush into analysis or action. Eastern traditions also taught me about impermanence, compassion, acceptance, and the importance of practice over perfection. I bring those ideas into conversation with evidence-based psychology, while respecting their cultural origins and the needs of each person.
What does the integration of Eastern and Western methods allow you to offer that traditional approaches alone might not?
It gives me a wider way to understand healing. Western psychology offers strong tools for understanding thoughts, behavior, attachment, trauma, and emotional patterns. Eastern traditions offer valuable perspectives on attention, acceptance, compassion, impermanence, and our connection with others.
When we bring these approaches together thoughtfully, people can understand a pattern and also learn how to relate to it differently. For example, CBT may help someone question an unhelpful belief, while mindfulness helps them observe that thought without automatically following it. This approach can also be more culturally responsive. For many people, healing is not only about individual independence. Family, community, spirituality, and interdependence may also be very important.
🍂 Self-Awareness & Inner Understanding
Many people struggle to understand why they react the way they do. What do you hope readers uncover about themselves through your self-awareness exercises?
I hope readers discover that their reactions usually have a history and a purpose. A response that feels irrational today may once have helped them feel safe, accepted, or in control. The exercises invite readers to notice their triggers, body signals, automatic thoughts, emotions, protective habits, and unmet needs.
The goal is not to blame the past or explain every detail of our lives. The goal is to create more choice in the present. When I can say, “I withdraw because conflict once felt unsafe,” or “My mind expects rejection,” the pattern is no longer completely invisible. I can pause, look at what is happening now, and practice a different response. We can understand where a pattern came from without allowing it to control our future.
What misconceptions do people often have about self-awareness or introspection?
A common misconception is that self-awareness means thinking about yourself all the time. But rumination and self-awareness are very different. Rumination repeats the same worry or judgment. Self-awareness is curious. It asks, “What am I feeling? What triggered this? What do I need? What can I control?”
Another misconception is that insight automatically leads to change. Insight is important, but it is only the beginning. We usually need practice, support, new habits, and sometimes therapy to respond differently. Self-awareness is also not self-blame. It means understanding how our history, relationships, culture, and environment have affected us while still recognizing where we have choices. Healthy introspection should help us become more flexible and connected—not more ashamed or trapped inside our thoughts.
🍂 Authentic Self-Love & Inner Relationship Building
You emphasize genuine self-love—not surface-level positivity. How do you define authentic self-love?
To me, authentic self-love means treating yourself with respect, honesty, compassion, and responsibility. It is not pretending everything is fine. It is not avoiding accountability or repeating positive statements that do not feel true. It means recognizing your humanity while staying willing to learn and grow.
Sometimes self-love is gentle—resting, asking for help, or speaking kindly to yourself after a mistake. Sometimes it is uncomfortable—setting a boundary, ending an unhealthy pattern, or taking responsibility when you have hurt someone. Self-compassion and accountability are not opposites. They work together. Authentic self-love says, “I do not have to attack or abandon myself in order to change. I can face the truth and still remain on my own side.”
What is one small daily practice that can help someone begin strengthening their relationship with themselves?
Try a one-minute check-in each day. Pause, take one slower breath, and ask yourself three questions: “What am I feeling right now? What might I need? What is one kind and helpful next step?”
Keep the next step very small. It might be drinking water, going outside, sending one message, starting a task for five minutes, or saying no to something you cannot take on. Kindness does not always mean doing what feels easiest. Sometimes rest is the kind choice; sometimes taking a difficult but important step is the kind choice. Over time, this simple practice sends a powerful message: my experience matters, and I can respond to myself with care. Consistency is more important than doing it perfectly.
🍂 Stress, Anxiety & Emotional Overwhelm
In your clinical practice, which emotional challenges do you see most often, and how did they shape the tools you included in the book?
I often see anxiety, depression, trauma-related stress, grief, perfectionism, relationship problems, and attention or executive-function difficulties. Across all these concerns, many people struggle with self-criticism, overthinking, avoidance, or feeling disconnected from their bodies. They may know what they “should” do, but when they are overwhelmed, it is hard to turn that knowledge into action.
That is why I focused on tools people can actually practice. The book helps readers name emotions, notice automatic thoughts, calm the body, practice acceptance, clarify values, set boundaries, and choose the next manageable step. These exercises do not replace individualized therapy, but they can make psychology more understandable and useful. People do not need more shame for struggling. They need practical tools that fit real life.
What is one practical strategy from the book that readers can use during moments of intense stress or overwhelm?
When you feel overwhelmed, make the moment smaller. First, look around and remind yourself where you are. If you are physically safe, take a slower breath—especially a longer exhale. Then name what is happening in simple language: “I feel overwhelmed,” or “My body is in alarm right now.” Naming the experience can create a little space around it.
Next, ask, “What can I control in the next ten minutes?” Do not try to solve your whole life while your nervous system is activated. Choose one small action: step away from your phone, drink water, use your senses to ground yourself, write down the next task, or contact someone supportive. The goal is not to force the feeling away. It is to settle enough to choose your next helpful response.
🍂 Trauma Healing & Gentle Recovery
Trauma healing requires care and nuance. How did you approach writing exercises that are both gentle and evidence-based?
I wrote the trauma-related exercises around four ideas: safety, choice, pacing, and stabilization. I never want a reader to feel that they must disclose everything, relive a painful experience, or push through intense distress just because an exercise appears in a book. Readers are always allowed to pause or skip something.
The exercises focus on grounding, present-moment awareness, emotional language, self-compassion, support, and boundaries. I draw from established trauma-informed principles, but I am also clear about the limits of self-help. A book cannot assess someone’s readiness or personalize treatment. Evidence-based care does not have to be forceful. Good trauma work respects the science while also respecting the person’s nervous system, culture, autonomy, and pace.
What do you wish more people understood about trauma and the healing process?
I wish more people understood that trauma is not a sign of weakness, and healing is not simply a matter of willpower. Trauma can affect the body, attention, memory, emotions, relationships, and a person’s sense of safety. At the same time, not every painful experience is automatically a trauma disorder. Context, severity, duration, and impact all matter.
Healing is often uneven. Someone can make real progress and still feel activated by an anniversary, loss, transition, or new stress. That does not erase the progress they have made. Healing may include feeling safer, reducing symptoms, processing memories, building supportive relationships, and reclaiming a sense of choice. It does not require forgetting what happened. Many people improve greatly with the right support, and there is no single timetable everyone must follow.
🍂 Professional Work & Community Impact
Your work in the San Francisco Bay Area spans clinics, family court consultations, and clinical supervision. How does this environment influence your writing?
The San Francisco Bay Area is incredibly diverse. It brings together many cultures, generations, family structures, and professional backgrounds. It is also a place of innovation and opportunity, but there can be intense pressure around work, money, housing, achievement, and belonging.
That environment reminds me that mental health never exists in isolation. It is shaped by relationships, culture, schools, workplaces, healthcare, legal systems, and access to resources. My work across clinical care, consultation, and supervision has also taught me to be very careful about ethics, boundaries, language, and confidentiality. I never use identifiable client or family-court stories in my writing. Instead, I draw from broad clinical themes, research, cross-cultural experience, and common human situations.
Your Instagram community is global and highly engaged. Did any recurring themes from your followers shape this book?
Yes. People from many different countries repeatedly ask me about overthinking, self-criticism, boundaries, family expectations, emotional exhaustion, trauma, and loneliness. A very common question is, “I understand the idea, but what do I actually do when this happens at work, at night, or during a difficult conversation?”
Those questions encouraged me to use plain language and include practical exercises. My community has also reminded me that emotional struggles may be universal, but they are expressed differently across cultures. Independence, family responsibility, help-seeking, and self-care can mean very different things depending on someone’s background. I wanted the book to be accessible without ignoring those differences. People want information, but they also want guidance that feels compassionate, credible, and useful in daily life.
🍂 Writing, Creativity & Previous Works
You’ve written several successfuwwwwwl books on anxiety, trauma, and self-care. How does The Journey to Self differ from your earlier publications?
My earlier writing has often focused on a specific challenge, such as anxiety, trauma, or self-care. The Journey to Self takes a wider view. It looks at the relationship we build with our thoughts, emotions, body, history, values, relationships, and identity.
It is also meant to be used, not just read. The reflection questions and exercises help readers move from understanding an idea to practicing it. The main question is not only, “How can I reduce this symptom?” It is also, “How can I understand myself more honestly and live with greater intention?” The book brings together many parts of my work—evidence-based psychology, mindfulness, self-compassion, Eastern and cross-cultural perspectives, and my belief that psychology should be practical and accessible.
What was the most challenging part of writing this book—and the most rewarding?
The hardest part was deciding what to leave out. Psychology is complex, and every topic has nuance. I wanted the book to be accurate without sounding like a textbook, and practical without suggesting that complicated problems have simple solutions. Finding language that felt clear, warm, culturally thoughtful, and trauma-informed took a lot of revision.
The most rewarding part was imagining a reader recognizing themselves without feeling judged. Sometimes one psychological idea gives a person language for something they have carried silently for years. Even better is when that understanding leads to one small change—a kinder response to themselves, a healthier boundary, a request for support, or a decision to seek professional care. Writing allows me to offer useful education to people I may never meet in person.
🍂 Life Beyond the Clinic
You enjoy traveling, cooking, museums, and swimming. Do these personal passions influence your approach to mental wellness?
Absolutely. These activities remind me that mental wellness is not only about reducing symptoms. It is also about being able to participate in life. Travel brings curiosity and perspective. Cooking connects attention, creativity, care, culture, and the senses. Museums offer beauty and reflection. Swimming brings me back to breathing, rhythm, and the body.
These activities are not cures, and I do not want self-care to become another standard people feel pressured to meet. What matters is finding what genuinely restores or energizes you—not what self-care is supposed to look like online. Mental health includes treatment when treatment is needed, but it also includes making room for pleasure, meaning, movement, beauty, and connection.
What practices help you stay grounded in your own life?
I return to simple things: pausing before I react, noticing my breathing and body, swimming, walking, cooking, reducing unnecessary stimulation, and spending time with people and places that remind me what matters. My Kendo background also stays with me—the attention to posture, breathing, respect, and returning to the present after distraction.
I try to practice what I teach: do not wait for perfect conditions before taking one helpful step. Sometimes grounding is simply naming how I feel, accepting what I cannot change right now, and asking what I can do next. I do not practice psychology because I am unaffected by stress. I practice because I am human. Being grounded is not a permanent state. It is the ability to notice when I have lost my center and gently return.
🍂 Final Reflections
What message would you like to leave with readers who are just beginning their journey to self?
You do not have to understand everything about yourself before you begin. The journey to self is not about discovering one perfect, fixed identity hidden inside you. It is an ongoing practice of noticing, understanding, choosing, and returning.
Start with curiosity instead of judgment. A pattern may have protected you in the past, even if it no longer helps you today. An emotion is information, not an instruction. A painful chapter is part of your story, but it does not have to define your whole life. Let your next step be smaller than your mind thinks it should be. One honest reflection, one kind response, one boundary, or one request for help can matter. Your relationship with yourself is something you can practice—and you are allowed to practice imperfectly.
Where can readers connect with you, follow your work, or learn more about your upcoming offerings?
Readers can learn more about my writing, educational work, and clinical practice at drakira.com and journeyhealth.jp. They can also follow me on Instagram at @drakira94111, where I share practical mental-health education, short videos, reflections, and updates about books and upcoming programs.
Through Journey Health, I am continuing to develop mental-health education that connects evidence-based psychology with Eastern and cross-cultural perspectives. Because clinical services depend on location, licensure, availability, and fit, readers should check the websites for current information. I hope to keep building a global community where psychology feels credible, compassionate, and genuinely useful in everyday life.
🍂 Anything Else You’d Like to Add?
Is there anything you’d like readers to know that we didn’t cover—about the book, your work, or the healing journey?
I would add that healing is personal, but it is also relational. Individual choices and daily practices matter, but none of us develops in isolation. Family, friendship, culture, schools, workplaces, healthcare, and community all affect our mental health. We should not reduce every struggle to personal willpower, but we also do not have to give up our sense of agency. Both the person and the environment matter.
I also want readers to remember that self-help has limits. A book can offer language, reflection, and practical tools, but it cannot replace individualized care when that is needed. Asking for help is not a failure of self-awareness; it can be an expression of it. My hope is that readers come to know themselves well enough to live more intentionally, relate more compassionately, and take part more fully in the world around them.
In Closing
As our conversation comes to a close, one message from The Journey to Self continues to stand out: healing is both personal and relational. The author reminds us that “individual choices and daily practices matter, but none of us develops in isolation,” a truth that resonates deeply across cultures, communities, and life experiences. This book offers not just insight, but companionship — a gentle guide for anyone learning to understand themselves with more honesty, compassion, and intention.
Throughout the interview, we explored how Eastern mindfulness, Western psychology, trauma‑informed care, and practical daily tools come together to create a grounded, accessible path toward self‑connection. The author’s hope is simple yet powerful: that readers begin with curiosity rather than judgment, taking “one honest reflection, one kind response, one boundary, or one request for help” as meaningful progress on their journey.
If you’d like to continue learning from the author, you can connect through drakira.com, journeyhealth.jp, or Instagram at @drakira94111, where they share ongoing reflections, education, and updates about future offerings.
Thank you for joining us for this thoughtful and compassionate conversation. May your own journey to self unfold with patience, clarity, and the freedom to practice imperfectly.