General Question
Therapy can benefit anyone.
We all face challenges in relationships, work, health, or just coping with daily life. Therapy offers a safe, supportive space to help you understand your needs and values, manage overwhelming or difficult emotions, break unhelpful patterns, and grow.
It’s a myth that therapy is only for people in crisis. In reality, therapy is for anyone wanting to feel better, gain clarity, or make positive changes.
Unlike advice from friends or family, therapists provide an objective, professional perspective. JTA therapists are trained in evidence-based approaches and methods to treat anxiety, depression, and more—often as effectively as medication. Therapy can offer another path forward for anyone.
The length of therapy varies depending on the person, the issues being addressed, the type of therapy, and the goals you have.
You are always in control of who you work with, how many sessions you would like to have, how often you would like to meet your therapist, and when you pause or end therapy.
Factors That Affect Duration include
- Your goals (e.g., symptom relief vs. deeper personality change)
- Severity and complexity of the issue
Therapist’s approach - Frequency of sessions
- How actively you’re engaging and partnering in therapy and applying insights / practicing skills and strategies
In general, Short-Term and Medium-Term Therapy duration is typically 6 to 25 sessions (1–12 months). It is usually for specific issues such as mild to moderate anxiety or depression, stress, decision-making, grief, relationship issues, phobias, recent trauma. Your therapist might apply approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) etc.
Longer-Term Therapy is helpful for complex trauma, personality disorders, long-standing emotional patterns, or deeper self-exploration. Approaches applied often include Psychodynamic therapy, Jungian therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Long-term therapy is typically 1 year or more (can be open-ended).
Some people benefit from a few sessions, others prefer to continue in therapy for years. A therapist will typically regularly check in with you about your progress and direction.
Most often, the urgent problems that people seek treatment for begin to improve very quickly and, with new ways to go about solving problems, other areas of life can begin to change too.
Click here to search for your preferred JTA therapist to work with on your challenges and therapy goals.
Each therapist has different policies and fees regarding payment. Some accept insurances and charge you only the copay. Some services cost more than others (eg. academic testing).
The fee for therapists in Japan can range from approximately 10,000 Japanese yen per session to 30,000 yen, with many providers providing a sliding scale above or below this range. Fees can depend on the level of training and experience, services offered by providers, and the needs of the client. Feel free to ask your therapist about their fee structure, and share your needs, budget, and details of any insurance coverage you may have.
Psychiatrists are doctors who can prescribe medications for psychiatric conditions. Some also provide some psychotherapy.
Therapists (counselors, psychologists, psychotherapists) offer evidence-based talk therapies, and other validated forms of therapy that are regulated by licensing bodies.
Research suggests that, when medications are recommended for a person (in the case of psychosis, bi-polar, severe depression or anxiety etc), psychotherapy in addition to the medical treatment leads to the best outcomes. In these cases, working with both a psychiatrist that you trust and a therapist is preferred.
Should you need a suggestion for a psychiatrist, feel free to contact us.
If you have a psychiatrist already and would like to find a therapist to work on managing thoughts, feelings, relationships, change patterns and /or work towards personal development goals, please search here.
Japan’s licensing requirements are limited to hospitals and there is currently no national license for therapists in private practice.
JTA, therefore, ensures that therapists in our association meet our standard of education, practice and continuing education. JTA therapists are licensed (or eligible to be licensed) in their home countries and meet our criteria for membership.
Your privacy is protected to the extent of Japanese law.
The only exceptions to confidentiality are where there is immediate danger to life, injury, or abuse of children or the elderly.
Otherwise, nothing from your treatment would be revealed to anyone, within the limits of Japanese law.
In most cases, Yes.
There are some exceptions where a therapist practicing in other countries must be licensed in that country or state.
For example, an American licensed in California may not practice in the state of Texas, but they may see clients in another location anywhere in the world that do not restrict licensure.
Please feel free to ask your preferred therapist whether they are able to work with you in your location.