international student counseling office

user’s voices

Before I decided to go to the counseling center, I was worried…

Before I decided to go to the counseling center, I was worried about I cannot exactly convey my real thoughts and felling to counsellors because of the language. However, no matter how broken my words are, counselors always try their best to understand the meaning without any impatient.
Counselors are quite kind, experienced, and professional. I understood I am quite sensitive person, however, I could not observe any insecure signal at their tone, facial expression. They truly know how to gently communicate with a sensitive person, pull out the pain in the heart and solve them. If I metaphorize the mental pain as water droplets, what the counsellor did is let them drop from the heart and then take out the sharp part, gently catch the round part and vaporized them into the air. I received much help and appreciated counselor’s effort on solving my problem.

I regained my courage to make important life decisions

I was very lucky to be able to share my anxious thoughts with my counselor in English. She helped me to regain my courage to make important life decisions and step into my future with an open mind.

The counselling office has people who genuinely want to help you feel better and figure out your problems

I had my first counselling session in my first year, after experiencing multiple anxiety attacks that hindered my day-to-day activities. Before starting at Hokkaido University, I had a bad experience with counselling, which made me wary or even disliked the idea of attending counselling. However, after I decided to go when I was at my lowest, I realised how foolish that was. The counselling office of our university has people who genuinely want to help you, so you feel better and help you figure out your problems. Best of all, it’s free of charge for members of the university, so you don’t need to worry about finances at all. I recommend counselling even for those who think they don’t need it or don’t have “big problems” in their lives. The weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly sessions to discuss the things you have noticed, have been struggling with, or have been bothering you, are exactly what you need to prevent negative moments as much as possible.

I got the opportunity to learn new ways of soothing my anxiety

The counseling service helped me navigating through the challenges that inevitably come up when being a student in a foreign country. I got the opportunity to learn new ways of soothing my anxiety.

I was struggling with school and hoping I could get some advice to get my life together

Originally, I began counseling here because it was free to be quite frank. I was struggling with school and hoping I could get some advice to get my life together; at the time I was heavily struggling with oversleeping and really did not like my classes nor my professors. If you happen to have a disorder like I found out, the Reasonable Accommodations may be invaluable to you as well!
Of course, the therapists can’t do much about the structure and culture of the school itself, but they can offer incredibly helpful techniques depending on each counselors’ training background. Mine was more so along the lines of what you’d imagine a normal therapy session… venting and talking about personal things. Some may be more about practicing mindfulness and other techniques to stay calm/focused.
It doesn’t really matter why, what only matters is that if you feel like you want to talk to someone then that’s all there is to it. It’s a free service to all so don’t hesitate to try it, there’s nothing that could go wrong really. And if you are afraid of being hospitalized or something then don’t be afraid to ask about the confidentiality policy. 

Almost every time I learn something new about myself and my life

I started using the International Student Counseling Office services one month after I came to Japan. I have been going regularly, every week or two, for the past three months now. Initially, I had the same thoughts as many people do, “I don’t know what I could talk about with the counselor.” But I knew that mental health was as important as physical health, so although I hesitated at first, I ended up trying it. I decided to go to the Counseling Office because I had just moved to the other side of the world and broke up with my partner back home. The sessions really helped me in overcoming the situation and it gave me a different perspective on things, even the things we think are an absolute truth.
Nowadays, I keep going to counseling sessions. Not because I have any problems or frustrations in my life, apart from the normal ones, but because even if I don’t know what we’ll talk about in the session, it always ends up being an interesting conversation and almost every time I learn something new about myself and my life. I fully recommend the services the Counseling Office provides.

今年一番やってよかったと感じたのは、学生相談センターに連絡したことです

今年一番やってよかったと感じたのは、半年前、あまり迷うことなく学生相談センターに連絡したことです。どんなに苦しくても、どんなに迷っても、誰かに心から聞いてもらい、助けてもらえると思えば、怖くなくなれます。先生の顔を見るだけで、安心できるし、全部受け止めてくれそうで、他人に言えないことも全部言いたくなりました。人間一人では必ず限界がありそうですが、助けを求めることも力になれるので、実は我々が無限の力を持っています。

相談を通じて気づかなかった自分の一面が見られ、自分自身のことをより深く知ることができました

日本に来て、すごい絶望なことに多く会いました。そんなときに、相談室の先生が自分の遭遇を聞いてくれて、慰めてくれて、アドバイスしてくれて、大変助かりました。それは、寂しい留学生活で溜まったストレスを発散する有効なルートです。
また、相談室の先生との相談を通じて、傍観者の視角で自分さえ気づかなかった自分の一面が見られ、自分自身のことをより深く知りました。この点は、将来の人生にとって非常にポジティブな影響があります。
最後に、長年の留学生活のなかで、相談室の先生は既に友人のような恩師のような存在で、自分の心のオアシスです。ここで、感謝の気持ちを申し上げます。

International Student Counseling Office TOP

Become a peer supporter

Hokkaido University takes applications for peer supporters at designated times throughout the year. Peer supporters are paid part-time staff (administrative assistant) of the university. Check out the peer support unit web site or come to the Center for more information.

Thinking about visiting us?

If you would like to make a counseling appointment, please call us, email us, or even just drop by in person. Students with appointments are given priority, so we recommend making an appointment.