How Shigeko Ito Reclaimed Her Story After Trauma and Silence

What happens when the people you depend on most dismiss your pain?

Shigeko Ito grew up in Japan in an affluent but emotionally detached family, carrying an invisible loneliness that shaped her every step. At sixteen, she tasted what family could feel like during a summer with a nurturing American host family, but that contrast only deepened her existential crisis once she returned home. When a brother’s betrayal led her to wake up in a mental hospital, she began a long journey through silence, stigma, and survival.

In this conversation, Shigeko shares how she slowly found her way toward healing, compassion, and truth telling. She also reflects on what it means to break generational cycles and how her memoir became both an act of defiance and a gift of service.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How childhood neglect in a “perfect” family can quietly shape a child’s nervous system


• The life-altering moment of waking up in a mental hospital


• Why self compassion and storytelling became her path to resilience

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Guest Bio

Shigeko Ito is an educator, mental health advocate, and debut author of the memoir The Pond Beyond the Forest: Reflections on Childhood Trauma and Motherhood (She Writes Press). She grew up in Japan and immigrated to the United States in her twenties to pursue higher education, earning a PhD in Education from Stanford University. Drawing on her cross cultural experiences and academic expertise, she explores themes of trauma, resilience, and healing, with a particular focus on childhood emotional neglect. Shigeko lives in Seattle with her husband of thirty years. Learn more at shigekoito.com (http://shigekoito.com/)