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.Takasaki University of Commerce

Invited SymposiumCoaching psychology in AsiaJuly 29, 2016

Contents

• Survey on the Japanese Psychological Practitioners–Background–Method–Results– Limitations

• Perspectives for the future

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

Background (2)

Japanese Professionals in PsychologyCertificate

In Clinical Psychology

Certificate inCareer Counseling

Certificate inIndustrial Counseling

Psychologists as Scientists

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

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?

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

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.

Demographic data

20's30's40's50's60's70's

27

64

01

Age

Male12

SexFemale

8

024

Membership Duration[frequency]

[n]

[years]

Professional Areas [multiple answer]

Industrial5

Medical8

Education10

Welfare2

Others4

None, 5

CareerCounseling,

8

IndustrialCounseling,

10Others, 3

Certificate inClinical Psychology, 6

Certificate in Counseling[multiple answers]

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.

Questions ＆ Answers Related toCoaching and Coaching Psychology

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

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, 163. Coaching and psychological counseling are almost same and can be integrated.

Yes, 8No, 12

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

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

2. Demand for coaching in Japan

Remained consistent , 10

Increasing, 5

Still high, 1

Still low, 2

Decreasing, 2

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.

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.

Contents

• Survey on the Japanese Psychological Practitioners–Background–Method–Results– Limitations

• Perspectives for the future

Perspectives for the Future

• We need to bridge the gap between coaching psychologists and psychological practitioners.

Sited from IFPS website

Coaching Psychologists

Psychological Practitioners

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 modelSession 2 Challenging your beliefsSession 3 USA: Unconditional self-acceptanceSession 4 UOA: Unconditional others acceptanceSession 5 ULF: Unconditional life acceptanceSession 6 HFT: High frustration toleranceSession 7 Becoming your own coach

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.

Additional Slides

NO Age SexDuration of

membership[Years]

Professionalarea

Certificate in CP

Coaching certificate/experience

Importance of a coach certificate

Demand forcoaching in

Japan01 50's F 11 medical; industrial Yes Unsure Still high02 50's F 1 industrial [trainer] Unsure Increasing03 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 Increasing06 40's M 6 medical staff certif. Yes Increasing07 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 Decreasing11 20's F 5 medical staff No Certain amount12 70's F 5 education; industrial No Certain amount13 30's M 1 retailing No Certain amount14 30's M 5 medical [desk work] exp. No Certain amount15 40's M 3 teacher [education] No Certain amount16 50's M 3 insurance law No Certain amount17 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 amount20 40's M 12 education Yes Certain amount