Psychologist moving to Japan

Hello!

I am a senior clinical psychologist from Australia
I have 5 years post grad experience and am also a program manager at the moment
I have always wanted to move to Japan but can’t speak Japanese well (I know you have to pass exam in Japanese to be registered)
Are there any alternative jobs or opportunities I could get if I were to move? Open to learning about client and non client work
I’ve heard about working in mental health with other terms such as counsellor/therapist, doing research or working with English speaking clients

Any advice is appreciated ! Thank you!

4 comments
  1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

    **Psychologist moving to Japan**

    Hello!

    I am a senior clinical psychologist from Australia
    I have 5 years post grad experience and am also a program manager at the moment
    I have always wanted to move to Japan but can’t speak Japanese well (I know you have to pass exam in Japanese to be registered)
    Are there any alternative jobs or opportunities I could get if I were to move? Open to learning about client and non client work
    I’ve heard about working in mental health with other terms such as counsellor/therapist, doing research or working with English speaking clients (expats)

    Any advice is appreciated ! Thank you!

    *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*

  2. You may want to check the community info and go to #2 there’s a wiki link for visa types (e.g. work)

  3. With your medical experience in your particular field of study I’m pretty sure you can get a contract type job working on a USA military installations here in Japan. They will issue you SOFA visa to work and stay over here in Japan. During this time you can study Japanese here in Japan plus get a feel for your surroundings here in Japan which will better help you in my opinion. All other options with no real job experience here in Japan along with not speaking, reading, and writing Japanese will make it very hard for you to come over here to work and live.

  4. FIRST, read the pervious threads on being a [**psychologist** in Japan](https://www.reddit.com/psychologistn/search?q=psychologist&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on)

    #THEN THINK ABOUT IT…

    The years upon ***YEARS*** of Japanese study it would take to be a fully licensed Japanese psychologist is absurd.

    You *could* become a counsellor/therapist for foreigners —no licence required—is possible. However, you would need to become to true butt buddies with an existing practice in Japan.

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