Mental Health Support
According psychological research, adjusting to foreign cultures can increase the risks of poor mental health by up seven times. As JETs you may come under pressure in life and work that you may not have experienced in your home country, and it is thus important that you maintain not just your physical health, but your mental health as well. JET both recommends and provides several mental health support services.
Tokyo English Life Line (TELL)
The Tokyo English Life Line has been offering free, anonymous English-language call support since 1973. As a lifeline, support workers focus on listening and giving you a chance to sort through your feelings, but will also help coordinate getting extra help if you so desire. Hours are split between phone and chat services: the schedule changes each day with regular updates on their official Twitter.
https://telljp.com/lifeline/
03-5774-0992
Service Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 9AM – 11PM
Friday - Sunday: 9AM – 2AM
https://telljp.com/lifeline/
03-5774-0992
Service Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 9AM – 11PM
Friday - Sunday: 9AM – 2AM
AJET Peer Support Group
National AJET offers a number of services to help support JET participants in their lives in Japan. The AJET Peer Support Group (PSG) is a confidential listening and resource line for JET participants. All calls are confidential and callers can remain anonymous. The staff are themselves JETs and will be able to speak to you about work problems with experience. Similarly to TELL, staff are not professional counsellors, but will assist you in getting professional or emergency help if necessary. AJET PSG is available 365 days a year via telephone or Skype, username "AJET PSG" (operating hours same as telephone service). Likewise, AJET PSG also accepts individuals who are interested in volunteering; see their webpage for more information.
050-5534-5566
https://www.ajetpsg.com/about-us
Service Hours:
8pm – 7am Daily
050-5534-5566
https://www.ajetpsg.com/about-us
Service Hours:
8pm – 7am Daily
JET Counselling Services
JET has partnered with Fismec in order to provide a number of free counselling services for use by JET participants. Currently there are three services available: Web Mail, Skype and Telephone. Note that none of these services are intended for immediate use and there is a waiting period before initial sessions.
Kokoro: webmail counselling service. After initial signup, each session consists of three message exchanges between yourself and your counsellor. You can continue the same topic through multiple sessions if you wish. Replies may take up to 3 business days.
Fismec Skype Counselling. After initial signup, your counsellor will contact you to confirm session time, date and access. You are entitled to up to 7 free sessions.www.service-fismec.net/inquiry-eng/login/
Phone Counselling. Similar to TELL’s service above, but limited to the evening of two specific days a month. May be difficult to use effectively.
Kokoro: webmail counselling service. After initial signup, each session consists of three message exchanges between yourself and your counsellor. You can continue the same topic through multiple sessions if you wish. Replies may take up to 3 business days.
Fismec Skype Counselling. After initial signup, your counsellor will contact you to confirm session time, date and access. You are entitled to up to 7 free sessions.www.service-fismec.net/inquiry-eng/login/
Phone Counselling. Similar to TELL’s service above, but limited to the evening of two specific days a month. May be difficult to use effectively.
- First, go to the following website: English Website or Japanese Website
- Member registration will be required upon use. Follow the member registration instructions. You will receive a registration confirmation email once you have registered, so please access the address listed in the e-mail to complete registration.
- After completing registration and logging in, enter the ID and password to access the Counseling Room. Once you have filled in the required information, submit the details of your inquiry (up to 30 lines of text).
- After receiving an e-mail about your counselling (within 3 business days), login to view the status and write any further questions you may have from the same window.
JET Mental Health Counselling Assistance Programme
With the aim of enhancing mental health support for JET participants, CLAIR offers the JET Mental Health Counselling Assistance Programme. This programme provides a partial subsidy (50%, up to ¥30,000 per year) for counselling costs incurred through consultation with mental health professionals in Japan or abroad not covered by health insurance. After registration, email counselling can be used an unlimited number of times throughout the year, while Skype counselling may be used up to seven times. The coverage period is from 1 April to 31 March of the given fiscal year. For further information, please read the following guidelines and consult your contacting organisation.
JET Mental Health Counselling Assistance Programme Guidelines
Mental Health Support, JET Programme.
https://jetprogramme.org/en/mental-health-support/
Note: When seeking out professional counselling that, due to the normalization of things like Zoom, it is often possible to see a counsellor in your home country even while living in Japan. If you are particularly struggling with stress from culture shock, you may find this useful.
JET Mental Health Counselling Assistance Programme Guidelines
Mental Health Support, JET Programme.
https://jetprogramme.org/en/mental-health-support/
Note: When seeking out professional counselling that, due to the normalization of things like Zoom, it is often possible to see a counsellor in your home country even while living in Japan. If you are particularly struggling with stress from culture shock, you may find this useful.
Mental Health Signposting and Resources
The above listed supports are specifically designed to help facilitate short-term assistance and mid- to long-term mental health care. The following supports are focused on providing regular self-care designed to manage the physical and mental symptoms of stress. Consistent self-care facilitates a more resilient self, which better prepares one for tackling problems when they arise.
Palouse Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
A free, ad-less self-directed course in mindfulness created and maintained by a licensed practitioner. For those interested in a more regimented approach to your mental health, this is for you. However, the individual exercises and lessons are quite useful for reducing immediate stress by themselves.
https://palousemindfulness.com/index.html
https://palousemindfulness.com/index.html
Self-Compassion.org
A set of free breathing and meditation exercises for use during times of extreme stress. Particularly useful for dealing with the physical symptoms of stress, including elevated heart rate, muscle tightness, and poor breathing.
https://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/
https://self-compassion.org/category/exercises/
Mental Health Ireland
A major Irish NGO that provides free mental health resources. Alongside their wellbeing and stress management resources, those in rural placements may be interested in their Farming Resilience initiatives specifically designed to advise those working in the countryside who may not have many social outlets.
https://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/your-mental-health
https://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/your-mental-health
Mid West ARIES
Standing for Advancing Recovery in Ireland Education Service, Mid West ARIES is funded by the Health Service Executive and offers a range of wellbeing services and resources that are free for all regardless of location. Due to their use of public platforms like Youtube, Zoom and Spotify, their services have seen use not just in Ireland, but in Europe and Asia as well.
www.youtube.com/c/MidWestARIES
https://anchor.fm/midwestaries
www.youtube.com/c/MidWestARIES
https://anchor.fm/midwestaries