Psych. treating foreigners in Japan?

Recently I am orienting myself to my future career. I am a sophomore psychology student and planning to get a masters degree in either clinical psychology or neuropsychology.

In other news, as some of you may have read, I have a relationship with a Japanese woman woh lives in Tokyo. Even though the chance is not too big that we'll end up living in Japan permanently, I wonder: Are there foreign psychologists in Japan treating other foreigners exclusively? To me, this seems like a very interesting career move. If anyone knows about such a thing, I would like to hear about it.

If there is not such a thing, do you think there would be a demand for such a function in Japan? Personally I think this might be possible.

There are psychologists who do this kind of work, and there are also some who work as school counselors for international schools.

Thanks, this might be a great way to work in Japan if I had to make the decision to move there someday. I will look into this some more.

You ought to be able to find some of these places online. Good luck!

I'd say that over 90% of the English-speaking foreigners are in Japan on a temporary basis sent by their employer (companies, military, government workers). So if they had any problems they would have been sent to Japan in the first place.
However, you still might have some limited chances as councel for the schools, the military or the embassy. Maybe check around these lines first.

There are counseling centers ad private psychologists that cater to the needs of foreign residents. Problems arise, living in a different culture is stressful, there are many things that can arise or develop.

hi guys, since we are already at psychology, i have one question in my mind for quite some time already and i hope to seek insights from some of you here.

actually there is a chance i will be getting a degree in psychology from an australian university, however, afterall i still wanted to find a job in japan but im worried that the degree i took will not be recognized there, or because of culture different i may not be able to get a job. is there someway i can check or if anyone knows foreign psychology can make a career here in japan?

What kind of master did you take? Cinical? Social? Neuropsychology? I think as a Neuropsychologist it will be easier than as a clinical psychologist. I don't know about the official stuff, whether or not your degree will be recognized and all but, you have to look at it this way: Would you chose to go to a foreign Psychologist instead of one of your own people? Probably not right? You'd have to be really determined to fully understand the language and culture etc. And even then it will still be tough. But like I said, it might depend on your specialization.

im actually thinking about forensic but yeah the langauge and everything is different. so i am not sure who is my degree assess here. i dont mind studying the language after my degree for one or two years if it helps.

or is there other ways i can actually work in some companies using my psychology degree but in this case, my career is not psychology

You would need more than a year or two of language study if you want to reach a level of written and spoken Japanese that would allow you to practice psychology in Japan. Written Japan in particular takes years to achieve anything close to native level proficiency in, and you would need to know a huge amount of specialised vocab as well.

Honestly speaking, I do not think this is a realistic path to follow. There are very few non-Japanese practicing any kind of medicine here (there are a some, but they are very few and far between). Psychology in particular would be extremely limited, because of the obvious cultural differences, so you would be limited to English-speaking expats, who are a tiny proportion of the overall population.

Can I ask if you have been to Japan? If not, how can you know you would like to live here? Very many people find that it is not at all what they had imagined it would be. At least come and spend a couple of months here, perhaps try contacting non-Japanese psychologists practicing here and ask how they set themselves up in Japan.

You mention working in a company using your degree- what kind of position would that be?

yes i have been to japan 4 times. each last about 2 weeks on average. that is why i say, using the psychology degree finding a non-psychology job. there are many people who go into other expertise regardless of what they learn isnt it