Counseling supports individuals (students) with guidance regarding their difficulties and problems by utilizing professional knowledge and techniques. Counselors listen to you, ask questions, and provide information and psychological therapy. They help you to see your problems from new angles, express your feelings, and deepen your self-understanding to productively work on a solution. Counselors do not solve the problems for you, rather they help you so that you can decide and act towards a solution. As a result, counseling has the additional benefit of enabling you to become better at solving problems when you come across similar challenges in the future.

How counseling progresses depends on various elements including the complexity of the problems, the counselors’ skills, and the recipients’ environment/situation. Thus, we cannot guarantee any specific outcome, but many have experienced benefits via counseling. In order to achieve a result you can be happy with, we advise you to discuss with your counselor and set specific goals, such as a reduction in symptoms, decisions on some things, and improvements in communication skills.

Counseling is helpful with or without sickness. It often deals with adjustment issues, personal relationship issues, academic/career options, academic accomplishments, accidents, trauma, loss, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. Some international students get counseling to understand themselves better, to improve their interpersonal skills or to like themselves better. Getting counseling does NOT equal illness. On the contrary, it is a means of helping yourself proactively. If you face any difficulties, do not bottle everything up inside. Please contact us for help.

Counselors are obliged to protect the confidentiality of your information, and thus will not disclose any information to your instructor/advisor without prior consent from you. However, in case of emergency when we must ensure your safety or when we are demanded by law to disclose, the compliance with safety or the law will be prioritized.

Student counseling is a free service for Hokkaido University students.

You are required to present your student ID at the reception desk, but no prep work is needed.

You should suggest to your friend that they should go to the counseling office. If necessary, you can come with them.

Talk to the student and suggest that they visit us. You can accompany them. The sooner they come to see us, the sooner we can try to help.

The training sessions for our faculty/staff are provided for free. (For requests from outside, contact the general inquiry desk.)

Current Hokkaido University students. 

Our counseling services are for current Hokkaido University students only. However, if any of the professors and instructors are facing difficulties, please contact us. We can refer you to relevant institutes.

In principle, whether or not your child gets counseling is up to them. However, you may want to suggest to them to speak to a counselor about their difficulties. Here are some tips that may help you.

• Make sure to let them know that whatever they tell the counselor will be kept confidential in principle.
• Tell them that getting counseling is not shameful but the act of an independent and responsible adult who wishes to proactively seek solutions.
• Make sure to tell them that they can either continue or stop after the first session at their own discretion.

Many of the worries in college days are temporary, but some may last for a long time or have significant influence. If you notice such indicators, contact us. We will assess the situation and help accordingly.

Unless your son/daughter is a minor by legal definition, we cannot accommodate your request without their consent. While we understand that it must be frustrating for parents not to be able to learn what their own son/daughter is saying during counseling sessions when they worry about them, the strict adherence to the confidentiality obligation is the only way to ensure an environment where students feel comfortable disclosing personal issues and problems. Thank you for your understanding.

Other faculty/staff will not be able to find out that your son/daughter is getting counseling unless they permit it, or in the case that they are deemed to be an imminent threat to themselves or others.

No. The counseling record is subject to the confidentiality obligation and kept separately from any academic records.