Most of you have come to IUJ far away from your home. You have come to achieve something you desire for future. An opportunity like this may not come to everyone at a right moment. You have worked hard and you made it happen.

However, sometimes, you experience unexpected situations that is beyond your control, or things turned out differently from your expectations. When it happens, it can be much harder to deal with it while you are in a different cultural environment, so simply, handling it on your own is not the only solutions. So how about using an alternative resource?

So, you cannot always control everything that happens to you. For example, a natural disaster, a war, sickness, financial issues, or a crisis of family members. Probably you have learned and known that so much already. When you are away from a familiar environment and situation raises, you probably need some new ways of coping. Your regular habits, tools, or friends and families that have helped you to deal with difficult times in past may not be accessible this time. In additions, your cultural background and education systems can be quite different from our programs and IUJ culture.

Consequently, it can lead you at risk of getting sick physically and mentally if you push yourself too hard.

This is why, you try using new tools whatever you are able to access to, in order to obtain your degree and even enjoy your time at IUJ.

So reasons and topics that each person bring to the counseling session is so different that you cannot guess what his/her counseling was for. In other words, anyone can come and tell me what is about.

For more information about servives, please read more deatils below.

Services Guide

We offer various type of services.

• Individual Therapy (55mintes/Per Session) ⇨Make An Appointment
• ☞ Group Therapy/Group Activity
• ☞ Workshops and Seminar
• ☞ Social Gathering and Events
• ☞ WHAT’S NEW?!
•  Health Consultations with Doctor (please scroll down to the section for details ↓) ⇨Make An Appointment
•  IUJ Family Support Services IUJ家族サポートサービス (please scroll down to the section ↓)
• ☞ LINK for Outside Helpful Resources 
• Counseling Newsletters  “IUJ Counseling Today” ⇨ The latest edition ☞ The past editions

Some Rules/Guidance of the counseling/therapy.

1. Counseling is confidential
IUJ counseling is a confidential service that your identity and the information you shared with a counselor should be protected. The details will be explained to you at the beginning of the first session so that you understand how it works before starting.

2.Permitting a counselor to share your information
You may request a counselor to share your information with someone who can help you better with some issues. In that case, you need to specify about, “To Whom,” “Which Information,” and “Reasons and Purposes” that the counselor should share.

3.Counseling/Therapy
Counseling or Therapy is a term for the counseling activity. A counselor (Therapist) will listen to you and work with you based on your story that you shared about your concerns or wish for changing something.

4. Counseling Process and steps
There are hundreds of different approaches for counseling/therapy in the world, but almost all the process has three steps: 1) The Initial Assessment Meeting, 2) Setting up the goal, and 3) Agreement with the counselor about how often you want to meet. The Initial Assessment meeting usually takes longer than a regular session because the counselor will meet you for the first time, and it is helpful to understand the basic information about you before starting. Sometimes, perhaps you just want to talk or ask something to the counselor and think what to do later about if you want to work towards a specific goal at further sessions. Others may decide to set a plan and a goal about things that they wish to work on with a counselor. Once you set a plan, then you will discuss how often you wish to meet with the counselor. Depending on your goal and your schedule, counseling sessions at the academic setting can be, once a week, once in 2 weeks, or once a month. Depending on how you set the goal and the subject, the number of sessions can vary. The short-term focused therapy is usually 2-3 times, and some for 5-10 times; if there are wide ranges of subjects you would like to discuss in a longer term, it will be discussed on the first 1-2 sessions. The counselor may advise you about the treatment plan and goal(s), but you are highly encouraged to share your thoughts.  If the counselor is not able to provide a specific method that you requested, you may be recommended to use outside resources or alternative methods.

5. Other Information
IUJ has a diverse group of people on campus. Even if the counselor may be familiar with your cultures and background, you may be asked to clarify your statement and explain the meaning of your words. Everyone is unique, and it is also a part of counseling processes to rephrasing your thoughts and feelings. Counseling relationship is also unique because it is a team work with you and a counselor and it is apart from your regular life. Sometimes,  counselor advises you to avoid the subject that could be too painful for you even though you might wish to speak; other times you may be encouraged to speak. The counseling is free service for IUJ members, but it is a professional service on campus. Please do not bring any money or gifts to a counselor for your service.

Who can make counseling appointment?

IUJ counseling services are available to students, staff, faculty, and their family members. The counseling is strictly confidential between you and the therapist (counselor). カウンセリングはIUJ学生・教職員・またはそのご家族がご利用になれます。守秘義務をもって対応させていただきます。

How to make appointments?

Counseling service is available on weekdays during the office hours. Mon-Friday 9:30AM-6:00 PM
To make an appointment, you can go to the online appointment directly カウンセリング申込サイト⇨LINK
You may also contact the counselor via email or phone to request your time.

Office Locations

The counseling office is located on the 2^nd floor of the MLIC Building, near the Language Faculty Offices. Take the staircase right by the entrance area in the lobby. You can knock and come into the office whenever the door is open.

Other professional services:Doctor’s Consultations for Physical Concerns & Consulations about someone else

For Students: If you would like to seek advice for physical concerns, you can also make appointments for doctor’s consultations. The appointment schedules will be announced by Office of Student Services (OSS) and on the counseling newsletter in advance. For making appointment or more details, please visit the directly⇨LINK

For a family member of IUJ student/staff/faculty IUJ家族医療相談: any appointment, including the medical consultations, can be made directly through the appointment page. オンライン予約サイトからご予約が可能です。please visit the directly⇨LINK

Consultations about someone else:
If you have concerns about someone whom you know have health issues or stress related issues, you can ask for advise on consulations with a counselor how you would like to support the person. You can make an appointment just like counseling and tell the counselor you would like to consult about someone else. If possible, we recommend you to escote the person to the office together.

IUJ Family Support Services  IUJ家族サポートサービス

Adjusting to the new environment is not easy for everyone, and family members of students and faculties are not the exceptions. If you don’t understand Japanese, don’t know what to do about children’s education, how to write a note, where to go shopping, how to build your lifestyle in the new city, difficulty adjusting, etc., please do not hesitate to reach the counseling office. Although it is still confidential, (unless you wish me to contact to other helpful resources on behalf), please consider it as a casual walk-in consultation; the official counseling session can be set up as your request. ⇨LINK
学生家族または教職員家族の方にとっても、新しい環境での生活に適応するのは簡単なことばかりではありません。何かお困りのことがあれば気軽にご連絡ください。そうしたご相談の場合でも、ご希望がない限りは守秘義務扱いでご相談をお受けしますがカウンセリングではありません。カウンセリングをご希望の場合はその旨をお伝えください。オンライン予約サイトからご予約が可能です。please visit the directly⇨LINK
お問い合わせまたは申し込みは、メール、電話、もしくは直接オフィスでもお受けできます。⇨CONTACT INFORMATION 

Questions?

⇨CONTACT INFORMATION
If the door is open, you can walk into the office and make an appointment directly at the site. If there are some specific symptoms that you are aware, please tell IUJ counselor when you make contact. ☞ See some common symptoms
If you do not know how and to where you can go to ask for services, please free to call or email to the counseling office. Also, for students with any general questions about your campus life or concerns, Office of Student Services, will be happy to assist and guide you to the right place.

(Last updated on 08/21/2018)