2010年3月27日土曜日

DV

DV:被害登録の女性救出にパト20台、ヘリも 熊本県警

 25日午前11時半ごろ、熊本県警に夫からの暴力でDV(ドメスティックバイオレンス)被害者として登録されている20代女性から無言の110番があった。急行した捜査員が熊本市内で車に乗っている夫を発見、県警がパトカー20台以上とヘリコプターで約1時間にわたって追跡し、取り押さえた。県警は男がナイフを所持していたとして、銃刀法違反容疑で逮捕した。

 逮捕されたのは女性の夫で、熊本市国府、無職、櫨川(はぜかわ)司容疑者(28)。容疑は、25日午後1時5分ごろ、同県合志市の農道で、刃渡り15センチのナイフを違法に所持したとしている。

 女性は1月に県警にDVの相談をし、熊本地裁は3月、櫨川容疑者に女性に近づくことなどを禁じる保護命令を出していた。

 熊本北署によると、櫨川容疑者は女性が110番した際、近くにいたとみられる。追跡を受けて逃走中、前方をふさごうとしたパトカーに2回衝突したり信号無視を繰り返し、午後1時ごろ合志市内で停車した。櫨川容疑者は持っていたナイフで自分の首を軽く2回切り、警察官を威嚇するような仕草をした。警察官が拳銃を構えると、ナイフを捨てたという。【遠山和宏】

DV:被害登録の女性救出にパト20台、ヘリも 熊本県警 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年3月26日金曜日

End Fear

Japan (ChattahBox) – Japanese researchers claim they have found a way of eliminating fear in a patient using a simple injection.

University of Hiroshima researchers say that early studies on goldfish have shown the injected drug’s ability to block the fear response in the brain.

According to Professor Masayuki Yoshida, who led the research, the findings could prove extremely beneficial for the world of mental health treatment.

“One day, our irrational phobias could become a thing of the past. Imagine if your fear of spiders, heights or flying could be cured with a simple injection – our research suggests that one day this could be a reality.”

The study was conducted by training a group of fish to expect an electric shock every time a light flashed.

Each time the light hit the tank, monitors registered a slowing of the fish’s heart rates, a classic sign of fear in goldfish.

Once they registered this consistently, then administered the drug.

“We discovered that fish that had first been injected in the cerebellum with lidocaine had stable heart rates and showed no fear when the light was shone they were unable to learn to become afraid,” Yoshida explained.

The study has been published in BioMed Central’s Behavioural and Brain Functions.
New Injection Could End Fear | ChattahBox News Blog

2010年3月22日月曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy?

"Japanese Psychotherapy is the current practice of all psychotherapy modalities in Japan (regardless of the location of their origin of each specific psychotherapeutic modality) that are actually being practiced by nationally registered and nationally licensed mental health professionals in Japan, and in encompassing the full range of psychotherapeutic modalities currently practiced in Japan the true nature of Japanese Psychotherapy in the 21st Century has been established."


From "An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy"
© Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP, M.Sci. Pth.

An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy

2010年3月21日日曜日

Yahoo! Web Hosting: Everything You Need for a Professional Site

Ministry urging two-week vacation
Kyodo News

The government released a new guideline on working hours Friday aimed at helping workers use more of their vacation time, including taking holidays lasting about two weeks.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's nonbinding guideline is aimed at curbing long working hours and improving people's work-life balance. It also calls on companies to set targets for paid holidays workers take.

A ministry official in charge of the issue urged companies not to let employees burn out, saying long working hours are a major cause of mental health problems among employees.

According to a ministry survey last year, workers in Japan took an average of 8.5 vacation days in 2008, or 47.4 percent of the average 18 days available to them.

The government is seeking to raise the percentage to 60 percent by 2012 and 100 percent in 2017.

The new guideline, in line with a Cabinet decision in December on the promotion of vacations, calls for companies to check how many days of vacation each worker takes.

2010年3月18日木曜日

国家資格

国家資格 臨床心理士

30年前にこの世界(医療及び教育)に足を踏み入れて以来、願ってきた「心理士の国家資格化」が、いよいよ本格化してきたと聞き、 久々にwebを覗いてキーワード検索してみたら、沢山の皆さんが丁寧に状況をご紹介下さり、色々なコメントを発表されているのを読ませていただいて、老境に入りつつある一カウンセラーとして、一言感想を書いてみたくなりました。
私が長年「心理士の国家資格化」を願ってきたのは、この国に暮らす誰もが必要な時に楽にカウンセリングが受けられるシステムを導入出来たらとの想いからです。楽にと云うのは、どんな小さな町でも村でも、すぐにアクセス出来、経済的にも、保険等が使えて、大きな負担にならずに受けられると云う事で、本当にシンプルな願いからです。
その意味で、もし「国家資格化」されたら、私の勝手な想像で、保健所や学校、或は医療機関でもどこにでも心理職のスタッフが配備されていて、いつでも繋がれるようになれたら、どんなに素晴らしいかと…。
叉「 国家資格化」される事で、未だに根強くある社会の中のメンタル問題に対する偏見も幾分かでも払拭されるかとの期待もあっての事です。
その結果、ここ数年の不名誉な自殺率の増加を多少なりとも食い止める事にもなる可能性も高くなりますし…長年不安定な経済状況の中で頑張って来ている臨床現場の心理士にとっても、何らかの安定性が確保されるとしたら、こんな嬉しい事はありません。その意味では、一日も早く実施される事が臨まれる次第です。
叉、心理士の質の高さについてご心配されている皆さんが多いようですが、これは、この「 国家資格化」を機に、それこそ 更新性を取り入れる等、関連諸学会の今迄の諸経験を煮詰め、改めて検討して行くチャンスでもあり、何より社会からの目も厳しくもなる訳で、正しく一人一人の責任が問われて行く事になるのかと、思います。
ただ実際、正直なところ、日々の業務をこなしながらここで又何らかの“試験”を受けると云うのは、かなりのプレッシャーである事は確かでもあり、何らかの国家試験の施行まで考えると、某大先生の言葉にすがりたくもなる心境でもあります。
だからと云って、勿論誰でもそのままパスと云う訳にはいかないのでしょうが、自分が老年に入りつつある立場だからと云う事もありますが、ヨーロッパ諸国である、「グランドペアレンティング(Grand parenting)制(何らかの国家資格が誕生する際に、既にその仕事に長年従事して来ている人達への救済措置で、それまでの学歴や実務経験等の書類審査で検討するシステム。)」なんて云うのも取り入れていただけたら、有り難いなぁと思ったりもしています。
ちょっとながくなりましたが、皆さんのコメントに触発されて思い付くまま、書いてみました。

日本臨床心理士学会

臨床心理士に出会うには

臨床心理士に出会うには (web版)

2010年3月16日火曜日

国際親権紛争

国際親権紛争 まず実態把握が必要だ

 国際結婚したが離婚し、子供を日本に連れ帰ったら相手国から誘拐罪に問われた--。実際に起きている話である。

 国境を超えた親権争いが外交問題に発展している。「国際的な子の奪取の民事面に関する条約」(ハーグ条約)へ日本も加盟するよう欧米の圧力が強まっているのだ。

 条約は、子供が居住国から連れ出された場合、親が返還を申し立てれば、相手側の政府は子供の返還や面接交渉に協力する義務を負うとしている。主要8カ国で未加盟は日本とロシアだけである。

 欧米が加盟を求めるのは、日本人の母が子供を連れ帰り、父とトラブルになる例が多いためだ。米国、英国、フランス、カナダの4カ国が180件以上あると指摘する。逆に海外に子供を連れていかれたとの相談も増えているが、明らかになった例はそれほど多くない。

 背景には、親権制度の違いがある。条約加盟国の多くは「共同親権」で、離婚後も子供は父と母の間を頻繁に行き来する。一方、日本は離婚後は「単独親権」で母親が親権を取るケースが多い。

 子供を連れ帰る母親の心理は「自分が育てて当然」なのだろう。しかもその多くが夫の暴力(DV)を訴えているという。安定した環境で暮らす子供を、なぜDV夫の元に置かねばならないのか。戻っても裁判などで差別されず養育権が得られるのか。そんな不安もあるようだ。

 確かに、「共同親権」の下で一方の親の意思を無視して子供を連れ帰るのはルール違反かもしれない。だが、自国民の権益を守るという政府の基本的な立場とぶつかる可能性があるならば、慎重に対応すべきだ。

 外務省は、外国公館から具体的に面会などの要求があれば仲介し、当事者にも話を聞いているという。だが、指摘のあったケースについて相手側も含めもっと広範にヒアリングして実態を把握すべきではないか。「民事不介入」が原則とはいえ、外交問題になっているのだ。

 条約には、子供の利益に反する場合、相手国に戻さなくていいとの規定もある。その運用実態も調べなければならない。加盟国同士で引き渡しをめぐりトラブルもあるという。ハーグの事務局に集積されている具体例を分析することも必要だ。

 鳩山由紀夫首相は先月下旬、岡田克也外相と千葉景子法相に早期に結論を出すよう指示した。だが、まだ詰めるべき点は多い。第一に優先すべきは、「子供の利益」である。

 国際結婚は珍しくなくなった。外国人と暮らし子供を育てるという決断をする重みを個々人が認識すべきなのは言うまでもない。

英訳

社説:国際親権紛争 まず実態把握が必要だ - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年3月15日月曜日

小学生の“友だち本

児童書の編集者から、「小学生向けの“友だちとのつき合い方”の本が売れているんですよ」と聞いた。

 子どものいない私には何のことかよくわからなかったのだが、書店に行ってみると、確かに、「仲間」とか「友だち」と表紙に書かれた本がいっぱいある。

 かわいらしいイラストがふんだんに使われた本には、「はじめて話しかけるときには」「ケンカしたときにメールで仲直りするには」など、友だちづき合いに関するありとあらゆるアドバイスや情報が書かれていた。絵の感じからして、主に女子が読むのだろうか。

 「いつの時代も友だちって大切なんだな」と思いながらも、「でも、友だちとのつき合い方も本で学ぶなんて」と少し複雑な気分になった。

 私自身も子どものころ、同じクラスの親友とうまくいかなくなって悩んだこともあったが、それを解決してくれる本はなかった。「あのときはどうしたんだっけ」と考えてみたが、思い出せない。

 なんとなくうやむやになり、そのうち別々の中学に進んだのでそのままになった気がする。

 ただ、今でもその友だちとは、年賀状やメールをやり取りする仲だ。つまり、時間が解決してくれた、というわけだ。

 それに比べると今の子どもたちは、問題をその場ですぐに解決しようとするのだろうか。気になる子にはすぐ話しかけて、ちょっと気まずくなったらすぐにメールで解決。「まあ、いいか」とほうっておくことはできないのかもしれない。

 そういえば、診察室にやって来る人の中にも、「私の問題を解決するのに役立つ本を紹介してください」と言う人がいる。「時間を無駄にしたくないんです。病院の帰りに本屋さんに寄って買いますから、心理学の入門書を教えてください」と“前のめり”になる人に、「そのあせる気持ちがいちばんいけません」と言いたくなることもある。

 あたりまえのことだが、世の中のことや人生の問題には、本を読んですぐに解決できることと、できないことがある。本は「へー、こんな考え方もあるのか」とあくまで参考程度にして、その通りにやったら何でも解決、と期待し過ぎないほうがいい。

 “友だち本”を読む小学生たちはどうなのだろう。「これを試してうまくいかなかったらもうおしまい」などと思わずに、ちょっと楽しむくらいの気持ちで読むならいいのだが。たくさんの本の山を前に、書店で考え込んでしまった。



香山リカのココロの万華鏡:小学生の“友だち本” /東京 - 毎日jp(毎日新聞)

2010年3月14日日曜日

2009 Human Rights Report Japan

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The law prohibits such practices, and the government generally respected these provisions in practice.

NGOs and foreign diplomats reported instances of alleged physical abuse in some prisons. In February, in the civil case against Wakayama Prefecture and the state regarding three police officers convicted for the 2004 death of a suspect, the court found Wakayama Prefecture responsible and ordered compensation.

The government continued to deny death-row inmates and their families information about the date of execution. Families of condemned prisoners were notified of the execution after the fact. The government stated this policy was to spare the prisoners the anguish of knowing when they were going to die. Condemned prisoners, although held in solitary confinement for an average of almost eight years until their execution, were allowed visits by their families, lawyers, and other persons. An NGO reported that prisoners facing the death penalty were sometimes kept in solitary confinement for decades and concluded that a number of these prisoners had become mentally ill as a result.

NGOs continued to report that prison management regularly abused the rules on solitary confinement. Punitive solitary confinement may be imposed for a maximum of 60 days, but procedures allow wardens to keep prisoners in "isolation" solitary confinement indefinitely. Officials at Fuchu Prison used such procedures to keep a foreign prisoner in isolation for the past four years. Prison officials said that solitary confinement was an important tool to maintain order in prisons that were at or above capacity.

Hazing, bullying, and sexual harassment were increasingly reported as problems in the Japanese Self Defense Forces.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Prison conditions generally met international standards. However, several facilities were overcrowded and lacked heating. NGOs also reported that some facilities provided inadequate food and medical care. Foreign diplomatic officials confirmed numerous cases in which the prison diet was inadequate to prevent significant weight loss, including muscular mass. Cases of slow and in some cases inadequate medical treatment were documented, including in detainees and prisoners with preexisting medical conditions. Police and prison authorities were particularly slow providing treatment of mental illness. In some institutions clothing and blankets were insufficient to protect inmates against cold weather. Most prison facilities did not provide heating during nighttime hours in winter despite freezing temperatures. The lack of heating subjected the prison population to a range of preventable cold injuries, from chilblains to more severe forms of cold injury. Foreign prisoners in the Tokyo area presented to visiting diplomatic officials chilblains-affected fingers and toes of varying severity, the direct result of long-term exposure to deleteriously cold and at times freezing conditions in prison and detention facilities during the winter months. NGOs, lawyers, and doctors also criticized medical care in police‑operated preindictment detention centers and immigration detention centers.

In 2008 there were 67,672 prisoners. Men and women prisoners were held in separate facilities in prisons and detention centers. Minors were held separately from adults in prisons and regular detention centers, but regulations do not require that minors be held separately in immigration detention centers.

Prison management regulations stipulate that independent committees inspect prisons and detention centers operated by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and police-operated detention facilities. The committees included physicians, lawyers, local municipal officials, representatives of local communities, and other local citizens. Prisoner rights advocates reported that the committees visited MOJ prisons throughout the year. In 2008 these committees visited a total of 207 prisons and detention facilities (not including pretrial detention facilities) and interviewed 598 detainees. The committees made 659 recommendations to the prison or detention facility superintendants, of which 366 were considered implemented or in the process of being implemented. In addition, 198 recommendations were considered as requiring either further discussion or follow-up inspections, and 95 were referred to the Ministry of Justice.

In July an amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law was passed establishing an independent inspection process for immigration detention facilities.

During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross did not request any prison visits.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these prohibitions. NGOs continued to report instances of what appeared to be arbitrary detentions.

Role of the Police and Security Apparatus

Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the National Police Agency (NPA) and local police forces, and the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during the year. However, some NGOs criticized local public safety commissions for lacking independence from or sufficient authority over police agencies.

Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention

Persons were apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and issued by a duly authorized official, and detainees were brought before an independent judiciary. NGOs claimed that warrants were granted at high rates and that detention sometimes occurred even though the evidentiary grounds were weak.

The law provides detainees the right to a prompt judicial determination of the legality of the detention, and authorities respected this right in practice. The law requires authorities to inform detainees immediately of the charges against them. Authorities usually held suspects in police‑operated detention centers for an initial 72 hours. A judge must interview a suspect prior to further detention. The judge may extend preindictment custody by up to two consecutive 10‑day periods. Prosecutors routinely sought and received these extensions. Prosecutors may also apply for an additional five‑day extension in exceptional crimes such as insurrection, foreign aggression, and disturbance. NGOs pointed out that because extensions were routinely granted, the intent of the law--prompt judicial determination of the legality of the detention--was in fact undermined.

The code of criminal procedure allows detainees, their families, or representatives to request that the court release an indicted detainee on bail. However, bail is not available during preindictment to persons detained in either police or MOJ detention facilities. Because judges customarily granted prosecutors requests for extensions, the system of pretrial detention, known as "daiyou kangoku" (substitute prison), usually continued for 23 days. Suspects in pretrial detention are legally required to face interrogation. NPA guidelines limit interrogations to a maximum of eight hours. Overnight interrogations are prohibited.

Preindictment detainees had access to counsel, including court‑appointed attorneys. Prisoner advocates said that in practice this access improved in terms of the duration and frequency. However, counsel may not be present during interrogations. Family members were allowed to meet with detainees, but only in the presence of a detention officer. Article 81 of the code of criminal conduct may, regardless of the charge, prohibit detainees from having interviews with persons other than their counsel only if there is probable cause that the suspect may flee or may conceal or destroy evidence. Detainees charged with drug offenses are routinely held incommunicado until indictment and are allowed only consular and legal access. Prosecutors at their discretion may partially record suspects' confessions, but NGOs pointed out that partial and discretionary recordings could be misleading. Police in Tokyo and 46 prefectures continued
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence in practice. In July the country began a lay judge (jury) system for serious criminal cases.

Trial Procedures

The law provides the right to a fair trial for all citizens and ensures that each charged individual receives a public trial by an independent civilian court, has access to defense counsel, and has the right to cross-examine witnesses. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and defendants cannot be compelled to testify against themselves.

The UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT), NGOs, and lawyers questioned whether defendants were presumed innocent in practice. According to NGOs, the majority of indicted detainees confessed while in police custody. Safeguards exist to ensure that suspects cannot be compelled to confess to a crime or be convicted when a confession is the only evidence. In the past NGOs documented techniques used to extract confessions that include beating, intimidation, sleep deprivation, questioning from early morning to late at night, and making the suspect stand or sit in fixed positions for long periods. New NPA guidelines were created in January 2008. On April 1, the National Public Safety Commission issued regulations prohibiting the police from touching suspects (unless unavoidable), exerting force, threatening them, keeping them in fixed postures for long periods, verbally abusing them, or offering them favors in return for a confession. Defense counsel is not allowed to be present during interrogations. However, NGOs continued to report long interrogation sessions of eight to 12 hours in length, in which the detainee was handcuffed to a chair for the entire period, and aggressive questioning techniques were used.

The use of police‑operated detention centers was criticized because it puts suspects in the custody of their interrogators. The government stated that article 16 of the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and Treatment of Inmates and Detainees separates the function of investigation from the function of detention. According to government statistics, more than 98 percent of arrested suspects were sent to police detention facilities. The other 2 percent were held in MOJ-operated preindictment detention centers. More than 99 percent of cases that reached a trial court resulted in conviction. Independent legal scholars alleged that the judiciary gives too much weight to confessions, although the government disputed the assertion.

There were media reports of persons convicted on the basis of police-obtained confessions who were later proved innocent. During the year a man sentenced to life imprisonment after DNA tests led to his conviction in 1990 for the murder of a four-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, was released after more-accurate DNA tests exonerated him. Despite errors in the basic investigation, including autopsy findings that conflicted with the suspect's confession, the prosecutors and the courts dismissed the possibility that the confession was coerced. The same questionable DNA testing methods contributed to guilty rulings in other cases, including some involving the death penalty.

According to some independent legal scholars, trial procedures favor the prosecution, although the government disputed the claim. The law provides for access to counsel; nevertheless, a significant number of defendants reported that this access was insufficient. The law does not require full disclosure by prosecutors unless the defending attorney is able to satisfy disclosure procedure conditions. In practice this sometimes resulted in the suppression of material that the prosecution did not use in court. As a result, the legal representatives of some defendants claimed that they did not receive access to relevant material in the police record. In appeal attempts in some cases, defense attorneys were not granted access to possible exculpatory DNA evidence. The police's response in those cases was that all evidence was destroyed after the initial trial. The government's official position regarding the disclosure of evidence to defense attorneys is that any evidence, including DNA, can be disclosed through the disclosure procedure in accordance with the code of criminal procedure "if the conditions are met" (see section 4).

The language barrier was a serious problem for foreign defendants. No guidelines exist to ensure effective communication between judges, lawyers, and non‑Japanese‑speaking defendants. Several foreign detainees claimed that police urged them to sign statements in Japanese that they could not understand and that were not translated adequately. No standard licensing or qualification system existed for court interpreters, and trials proceeded even if no translation or interpretation was provided, despite the government's claims that trials cannot proceed unless translation or interpreting is provided. In Gunma Prefecture, police recruited volunteers to translate for the police during investigations.

2009 Human Rights Report: Japan

2010年3月11日木曜日

Japan Prison Mental Health

TOKYO, Japan — Whether or not Iwao Hakamada committed the gruesome murders for which he was sentenced to hang is a matter of debate. What is certain is that the 73-year-old — the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner — has come to personify the cruelty inherent in Japan’s treatment of its most heinous criminals.

Hakamada, a former professional boxer, has spent 41 years on death row for a murder that even one of the three judges who sentenced him now believes he did not commit.

The possibility that an innocent man may have spent more than four decades in prison is not the only reason why Hakamada’s case has attracted the attention of human rights groups.

Amnesty International has accused Japan’s penal system of driving condemned men insane after subjecting them to, on average, at least seven years of “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment on death row.



Japan Death Row | Amnesty International

2010年3月10日水曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy Definition:

"Japanese Psychotherapy is the current practice of all psychotherapy modalities in Japan (regardless of the location of their origin of each specific psychotherapeutic modality) that are actually being practiced by nationally registered and nationally licensed mental health professionals in Japan, and in encompassing the full range of psychotherapeutic modalities currently practiced in Japan the true nature of Japanese Psychotherapy in the 21st Century has been established."


From "An Introduction to Japanese Psychotherapy"
© Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP, M.Sci. Pth.

What is Japanese Psychotherapy?

2010年3月8日月曜日

Japan Smoking

Japan Smokings"

Officials said Monday, Japan, which is one of the world's biggest consumers of cigarettes, plans to call for a nationwide ban on lighting up in bars, restaurants and other public places.

The health ministry plans to send an advisory notice to local governments by the end of February to ask them to follow the country's initiative to fight second-hand smoke, a ministry official said.

At the moment, the central government calls on local authorities to provide separate smoking areas in public facilities such as amusement venues, schools, hospitals and department stores, hotels, train stations and banks.

"Now our ministry plans to upgrade the current separation of smoking areas to a total ban on smoking, which is a global trend," said the official, who declined to be named.

The government notice is not mandatory, the official said, adding that local authorities can decide whether to introduce local legislation so that offenders may be fined.

Smoking is still commonplace in Japanese bars and restaurants, unlike in most other developed countries. But streets, trains and railway platforms are becoming increasingly smoke-free.

Japan Seeks Nationwide Smoking Ban in Public Places

2010年3月7日日曜日

Japanese Psychotherapy

Books on Japanese Psychotherapy

Japanese Psychotherapy Books:

Title "Well Planted in Fertile Soil: Psychotherapies in Japan" by Andrew Grimes.

Sub-title: "The Practice of Psychotherapy in Japan: an investigation into modern Japanese psychotherapy practice currently in Japan, the ways and approaches of psychotherapies in Japan, where psychotherapists practice in Japan and how they utilize psychotherapeutic systems to serve the needs and wishes of their clients and patients. With an emphasis on identifying the full range of systems of psychotherapy being used within Japanese society in the treatment of emotional and psychosomatic problems and also in the treatment of problems caused by crisis in life."

Extract: "The current of psychotherapy in Japan has long been naturally moving towards all current psychotherapies being used in a form of integrated psychotherapy. The teachings of all the most leading and influential teachers of the predominate schools of psychotherapy at least since the end of the war in the Pacific have favoured an acceptance and respect for all other major systems of psychotherapy. The answers and comments provided by all respondents surveyed as part of this research on the use of all of the major methods of psychotherapy currently utilized to nurture the well being of clients and patients of all kinds overwhelming show that they vary and tailor their approach for each and every one of them. So very few practicing psychotherapists here insist on just one approach. Therefore it is a very personal and consensually concordant current that has resulted in integrative psychotherapy becoming popular in Japan too.

The very nature of Japanese culture with its Buddhist roots still deeply influencing the ways that all people relate to one another here is integrative in nature and current modalities of Japanese psychotherapy too have been adopted, adapted and encouraged to grow and advance in a spirit of harmony and cooperation between professionals and clients and patients always with a respect of the intrinsic inter-relationship of human interaction being at the heart of things." © Andrew Grimes JSCCP, JCP, M.Sci. Pth.

Japanese Psychotherapy