Born and raised in Hawaiʻi, Dr. Ann brings a grounded, compassionate, and direct approach to therapy. Her life has taken her from the islands to communities across the mainland United States and Asia, shaping how she understands resilience, identity, family, culture, and the process of beginning again.
Before becoming a psychologist, Dr. Ann worked in business, managing her parents’ gas stations and later opening her own café. Years of honest conversations with customers helped her recognize a deeper calling: helping people heal, grow, and break free from patterns that keep them stuck.
Today, her work focuses on helping clients understand how trauma, stress, avoidance, shame, emotional shutdown, and relationship patterns may be shaping their current lives.
Dr. Ann works with clients navigating:
PTSD and trauma-related symptoms
Complex trauma and childhood trauma
Emotional neglect and attachment wounds
Shame, self-blame, and harsh self-criticism
Avoidance and emotional shutdown
Moral injury
Anxiety and hypervigilance
Emotion dysregulation
Relationship pain, mistrust, and disconnection
Military, first responder, and high-stress occupational trauma
Her approach is active and collaborative. This is not generic supportive therapy. It is focused, evidence-informed trauma therapy designed to help clients move from survival patterns toward a life with more steadiness, clarity, connection, and purpose.
Dr. Ann specializes in evidence-based treatment for PTSD and emotion dysregulation. Her clinical work may integrate approaches such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy, CPT, DBT-based trauma treatment, trauma-informed couples work, and skills-based stabilization. Treatment is individualized based on each client’s symptoms, history, goals, readiness, and clinical needs. Some clients benefit from skills and stabilization before trauma processing. Others are ready for more direct trauma-focused work. The consultation process helps clarify which approach may be the best fit.
Dr. Ann’s training includes clinical and research experiences across academic medical centers, correctional settings, family-based programs, trauma treatment programs, and specialized research settings including Yale, Brown, STRONG STAR, UT Health San Antonio, and Sunstone Therapies.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies and Business
Hawaiʻi School of Professional Psychology at Chaminade University
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
Substance Abuse Treatment Unit, Yale School of Medicine
Practicum Student — New Haven, Connecticut
UT Health San Antonio, CBT Track — STRONG STAR
Practicum Student, Research Clinician & Psychology Internship
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Rhode Island Hospital PIP, Trauma Track — Postdoctoral Fellow
Sunstone Therapies
Psychedelic-Assisted Therapist and Researcher
Dr. Ann works with military service members, veterans, Special Operations clients, first responders, and high-stress professionals navigating trauma exposure, operational stress, moral injury, emotional numbing, anger, sleep disruption, hypervigilance, avoidance, transition stress, and relationship strain. She participates in the SOF Network Provider Directory and the Special Forces Trust Foundation, supporting eligible Special Operations service members and family members through foundation-supported funding pathways.
Dr. Ann is a licensed clinical psychologist in Maryland (License 07090) and Virginia (License 0810006791). She is authorized under PSYPACT to provide telepsychology to clients located in PSYPACT-participating states, subject to state-specific requirements and clinical appropriateness. Availability is based on the client’s physical location at the time of session.
Inouye, A., & Wolfanger, A. (2022). 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-Assisted Therapy in Hawaii: A Brief Review. Cureus, 14(6), e26102.
Inouye, A. M., Wolfanger, A. S., & Pitholiver, T. T. (2023). MDMA-assisted therapy for borderline personality disorder. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 7(2), 221–237.
Inouye, A. M., Wolfanger, A. S., & Pitholiver, T. T. (2024). MDMA-assisted dialectical behavioral therapy for borderline personality disorder: A qualitative study of mental health clinicians. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 8(1), 92–105.
Listed Provider, SOF Network Provider Directory
Member, American Psychological Association
Member, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
Member, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
Individual Trauma Therapy
PTSD Treatment
Complex PTSD Therapy
Couples Trauma Therapy
First Responder Therapy
Military & Veteran Therapy
Fees
Contact
You do not need to know exactly which treatment approach is right before reaching out. The consultation is designed to clarify what you are experiencing, answer practical questions, and determine whether Thrivana is the right clinical fit.
