Current State and Future Directions of the Practice of Coaching Psychology in Japan from the Perspective of the Japanese Association for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

1. Current State and Future Directions of
the Practice of Coaching Psychology in
Japan from the Perspective of the
Japanese Association for Rational
Emotive Behavior Therapy
Keita Kiuchi, Ph. D.
Invited Symposium
Coaching psychology in Asia
July 29, 2016

2. Contents
• Survey on the Japanese Psychological
Practitioners
–Background
–Method
–Results
–Limitations
• Perspectives for the future

3. Background (1)
• Coaching is beginning to be recognized by
psychologists and other psychological
practitioners in Japan
• No research has been conducted on the
perception of coaching among Japanese
professionals in psychology

4. Background (2)
Japanese Professionals in Psychology
Certificate
In Clinical Psychology
Certificate in
Career Counseling
Certificate in
Industrial Counseling
Psychologists as Scientists

5. Background (3)
• Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
– One of the cognitive behavioral therapies
– Developed by Albert Ellis, an American psychologist
• Rational emotive behavior approach in coaching
– One of the main approaches in coaching psychology
• The Japanese Association for Rational Emotive
Behavior Therapy (J-REBT)
– 250 members: mainly industrial and/or school
counselors or medical staffs

6. Objective
• To reveal the current state of coaching practice
and awareness of coaching and coaching
psychology with Japanese psychological
professionals.
– How do they define coaching?
– How many hold coach certificates and practice
coaching?
– How do they think about obtaining a coaching
certificate?
– How do they recognize the demand for coaching?

7. Method
• Procedure
–Online survey
–Sending URL for the survey to participants by a
letter and an e-mail
–Informing via the participants’ association’s
website
–Date of collection: from May to July 2016.
• Participants
–250 full members of J-REBT

8. Results
• Only 20 participants of 250 (8%) answered
the survey.
• Only 2 participants who answered the
survey had coaching certificates, which
were not accredited by international
coaching associations.
• Other 2 surveyed participants had
experience in coaching clients.

9. Demographic data

10. 2
7
6
4
0
1
20's
30's
40's
50's
60's
70's
Age
Male
12
Sex
Female
8
0
1
2
3
4
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112
Membership Duration
[frequency]
[n]
[years]
Professional Areas [multiple answer]
Industrial
5
Medical
8
Education
10
Welfare
2
Others
4

11. None, 5
Career
Counseling,
8
Industrial
Counseling,
10
Others, 3
Certificate in
Clinical Psychology, 6
Certificate in Counseling
[multiple answers]

12. There are various distributions of the
surveyed participants’ age, sex, professional
areas, and membership duration.
The participants appear to be representative
of all of the members in J-REBT and
probably Japanese practitioners in
psychology.

13. Questions ＆ Answers Related to
Coaching and Coaching Psychology

14. The Definition of Coaching
1. Coaching is a partnership between
a coach and a client to enhance
the client’s capability.
2. Coaches point out the client’s
problem and tell what the client
to do.
3. Coaching and psychological
counseling are almost same and
can be integrated.
Yes / No
Yes / No
Yes / No

15. 1. Coaching is a partnership to
enhance the client’s capability.
No, 1
Yes, 19
2. Coaches point out the client’s
problem and tell what the
client to do.
Yes, 4
No, 16
3. Coaching and psychological
counseling are
almost same and
can be integrated.
Yes, 8
No, 12

16. Coaching Certificates and Demands
1. Holding or obtaining a coaching certificate is
important to you.
a. Yes b. Unsure c. No
2. How do you think of the demand for coaching
in Japan?
a. Increasing b. Still high c. Remained consistent
d. Decreasing e. Still low

17. 1. Coaching certificate is important
Yes
• It is important to be qualified as a coaching
specialist.
• I would like to work as a professional coach.
Unsure
• It could be useful, but I don't need it.
• I'm not confident yet about the effectiveness
of coaching, especially when it's combined
with counseling.
No
• I have counseling skills.
• I don't have the opportunity to use it right
now.
No, 7
Unsure, 9
Yes, 4

18. 2. Demand for coaching in Japan
Remained consistent , 10
Increasing, 5
Still high, 1
Still low, 2
Decreasing, 2

19. Summary of the Results
• Negative aspects
– Low return ratio for the survey
– Few certificates and little experience with regard to
coaching
– Directive image of coaching
• Positive aspects
– Coaching can be integrated with counseling.
– Some Japanese psychological counselors might be
aware of the importance of the coaching certificate.
– Practitioners perceive at least a certain amount of
demand for coaching in society.

20. Limitations
• Low return ratio
– However, the participants answering the survey seemed
to be well representative of all of the association
members.
• Limited participants
– The participant group was merely an example of the
Japanese psychological practitioners; however, it is one
of the general associations of practitioners.
• A few participants hold certificates in clinical psychology
– Practitioners in clinical psychology might have different
attitudes toward coaching or coaching psychology.

21. Contents
• Survey on the Japanese Psychological
Practitioners
–Background
–Method
–Results
–Limitations
• Perspectives for the future

22. Perspectives for the Future
• We need to bridge the gap between coaching
psychologists and psychological practitioners.
Sited from IFPS website
Coaching
Psychologists
Psychological
Practitioners

23. Rational Life Coaching Group: R-LCG
• Group-based life-coaching program
• Based on the theory and techniques of REBT
• 7 sessions, 1.5 hours each
Session 1 Introduction: ABCDEF model
Session 2 Challenging your beliefs
Session 3 USA: Unconditional self-acceptance
Session 4 UOA: Unconditional others acceptance
Session 5 ULF: Unconditional life acceptance
Session 6 HFT: High frustration tolerance
Session 7 Becoming your own coach

24. Conclusions
• Japanese psychological practitioners’ attitudes
toward coaching seem to diverge.
• There might be a gap between coaching
psychologists and psychological practitioners.
• A new psychological coaching tool is expected to
cultivate psychological practitioners’ enthusiasm
on coaching and coaching psychology and to
contribute to the development of research and
practice in coaching psychology.

25. Additional Slides

26. NO Age Sex
Duration of
membership
[Years]
Professional
area
Certificate
in CP
Coaching
certificate/
experience
Importance
of a coach
certificate
Demand for
coaching in
Japan
01 50's F 11 medical; industrial Yes Unsure Still high
02 50's F 1 industrial [trainer] Unsure Increasing
03 50's M 5 law [desk worker] Unsure Increasing
04 30's M 8
education; welfare
[facilitator]
Yes Yes Increasing
05 40's M 12 education; industrial Yes Increasing
06 40's M 6 medical staff certif. Yes Increasing
07 30's F 2 medical [public health] No Still low
08 30's M 9
education; industrial;
lecturer
Yes Unsure Still low
09 30's F 1
education; medical
[housemaker]
Unsure Decreasing
10 40's M 5 IT [SE/PG] Unsure Decreasing
11 20's F 5 medical staff No Certain amount
12 70's F 5 education; industrial No Certain amount
13 30's M 1 retailing No Certain amount
14 30's M 5 medical [desk work] exp. No Certain amount
15 40's M 3 teacher [education] No Certain amount
16 50's M 3 insurance law No Certain amount
17 20's F 3 education; medical Yes Unsure Certain amount
18 30's F 12
education; medical;
welfare
Yes Unsure Certain amount
19 40's M 3 researcher [education] certif./exp. Unsure Certain amount
20 40's M 12 education Yes Certain amount