Eiko Mizushima, OTR/L, MT, BA

Eiko is pronounced “A-ko” like acorn. Eiko uses she/her and they/them pronouns. Eiko earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Macalester College in biology and environmental studies and a Master’s Degree in occupational therapy at Saint Catherine University. They are also a nationally licensed bodyworker, massage therapist, and craniosacral therapist and went to the New School for Massage, Bodywork and Healing. Their specific interests are addressing the intersections of healing, social justice, and ecology, and implementing remedies that address the root causes of pain and suffering at the individual and collective levels. While at Saint Catherine University their master’s project focused on implementation science and non-pharmaceutical interventions at a transitional care unit that had higher than average pain scores in Minnesota.

Eiko is committed to providing culturally relevant services that pay attention to the ways stressors such as systemic racism, poverty, war, genocide, slavery, and inequities impact people. The systems we live in puts the onus and the pathology on the individual. The ways people respond are rooted in survival mechanisms that are more about the systems which shaped them—than about who they inherently are. Eiko uses somatic, evidence-based, culturally relevant, and integrative approaches to provide care. Before becoming an OT, Eiko was an owner at the People’s Movement Center where she worked as a healing justice practitioner and bodyworker to center Queer, Trans, and BIPOC communities that are often not centered in larger systems. She has been an organizer and educator working in public schools for environmental justice and racial justice and brings these experiences with her in the healing arts.
Eiko works part-time in the Day Treatment Program and collaborates with the Integrative Health Department, and Partial Hospitalization Program at HCMC. In the Day Treatment Program, they lead group occupational therapy, DBT-informed education, and wellness sessions. They work as a Program Coordinator and Bodyworker with the Heals on Wheels Program with the Integrative Health Department. With the rest of her time, she runs a private OT practice.