Seishin-Iryō to Rinshō-Shinri no Chishiki to Gihō (Certified Psychologist’s Companion: Knowledge and Techniques in Mental Health Care and Clinical Psychology)

A psychologist is a person in a professional position whose work is based on the achievements of academic psychology and who facilitates the resolution of people’s psychological problems. Japan deals with many mental health problems; resolving these problems is an important policy issue for society as a whole. Although there has been a great social need for psychologists, there has been no progress with national qualifications. However, in September 2015, the Certified Psychologist Act was tabled in the Diet session and was officially announced and put into effect in 2017. Psychologists thus became nationally qualified as certified psychologists. Although Japan has been considerably behind among developed countries regarding providing national qualifications for psychologists, they can finally contribute in mental health services as formally certified psychologists.
 
This book is the first in Japan to explain the professional skills of a certified psychologist. It covers professional knowledge and techniques for practicing mental health in clinical settings appropriately and summarizes the latest practical clinical information concisely. Specifically, the editors have chosen basic concepts of team medicine and evidence-based psychological support, thereby creating a reference book for practicing highly specialized mental health care. This book allows the reader to feel that he or she will be fine as long as he or she has one copy of it.
 
It is evident that basic knowledge and techniques for mental healthcare are necessary for appropriate practice when participating in team medicine in the healthcare field. However, knowledge and techniques are also required in other areas such as welfare and education. To practice more highly specialized psychological support, it is necessary to acquire not only traditional counseling and psychotherapy knowledge and techniques but also the latest knowledge and techniques of evidence-based clinical psychology. This book organizes the highly specialized knowledge and techniques that the certified psychologist needs in order to contribute to mental health activities as part of a multi-occupational collaborative team, thus making it a concise, explanatory, and must-have text. In addition to its commentary on a wide range of mental health systems and practical procedures, one particular feature of this book is that it explains the latest protocols for evidence-based practice, by respective problems, which are now a societal requirement. This is something not found in other books.
 
Thus, this book is not merely a text for young psychologists or those training to become certified psychologists, but it can also be used as reference text for mid-level or veteran certified psychologists working in the field when they encounter problems of actual work settings first-hand. Furthermore, other professionals, such as medical professionals who aim to collaborate with certified psychologists and develop higher-quality activities, can also refer to the contents of the book.
 

(Written by SHIMOYAMA Haruhiko, Professor, Graduate School of Education / 2018)