[News from Japan: A Look at Consultation Services]
Michiko TSUGE
clinical psychologist, Student Counseling and Psychological Services, Health Care Center, Kitasato University
[The article below is the same as the article that appears in the sixteenth issue of the CGS Newsletter.]
In its capacity as a safe and friendly space for communication, CGS is often consulted by students on a variety of gender and sexuality issues. This article sheds some insight on the counseling systems that other universities have in place for their students. The author, Dr. Michiko Tsuge, is a clinical psychologist at Kitasato University's Student Counseling and Psychological Services and founder of its LGBT student support group.
At Kitasato University's Student Counseling and Psychological Services, we try to reach out to as many students as possible. In this regard, we are no different to other student counseling centers. Where we do differ, however, is in our emphasis on being LGBT friendly and in our promotion of an LGBT support group.
Many LGBT students feel that student counseling centers cannot be trusted or be useful for them, and some are afraid that they may even be hurt by these so-called support organizations. So many LGBT students have told me their negative experiences with student counseling. Counselors have dismissed the issue of sexuality, giving advice along the lines of "Same-sex attraction is just a phase" or "You'll be attracted to the opposite sex eventually." Once I even came across a Japanese clinical psychologist's blog that stated, "In Japan, there is no physical violence against LGBTs, unlike in the West." I also know some clinical psychologists who seem to be of the opinion that homosexuality can be "cured" by psychoanalysis. I don't mean to say that all counselors lack understanding of LGBTs, but I think we need to come to terms with the fact that trust in student counseling centers has been lost due to their refusal to recognize the existence of LGBTs or the prevalence of homophobia.
In order to rebuild this lost trust and to encourage LGBTs to make use of our services, we take every opportunity to proclaim our center's LGBT-friendly stance, such as new student orientations, university magazines and newsletters, lectures, faculty development activities, and our website. As a student counseling center, we also thought we should start up an LGBT support group to provide a safe, friendly space for LGBT students to get together and discuss sexuality, identity, love, social pressures, and other important topics. Even though the growing use of mobile apps and the internet is making it easier for people to connect and communicate with their peers, most of the LGBT students who come to us say that they don't know any other LGBT students on campus. Many students spend their four years at university pretending to be part of the heterosexual majority because they feel that they are alone as a sexual minority. This has a severe negative impact on their mental health. Needless to say, an LGBT support group where students can talk freely with others will help relieve their loneliness and improve their state of mind.
It may be easier said than done, but I believe we need to work harder to raise the awareness of faculty, staff, and students, if we are to succeed in making our university truly LGBT friendly. Moreover, we have yet to do outreach work for those students who cannot make it to our counseling service for various reasons. The problems are stacking up. Given the proliferation of unreliable and incorrect information on the internet, it is even more necessary today for student counseling services to convey accurate information to LGBT students.
I think we need to begin re-evaluating the role of student counseling centers by first acknowledging that many such centers in the past have oppressed the socially vulnerable, the very people they should have tried to understand and support. This will enable us to build an LGBT-friendly system, encourage the self-development of LGBT students, and promote social awareness and change.