"More Counseling for More People" Expanding the Circle of Activity to Deliver Professional Mental Care to Those in Need [April Dream]

Our organization endorses April Dream, which aims to make April 1st a day for sharing dreams. This press release represents the dream of "NPO Counseling Office SARA."

NPO Counseling Office SARA operates with the motto "More Counseling for More People," engaging in mental health support in the community. Through April Dream, we aim to create a society where necessary mental care reaches those who find it difficult to access support due to economic and psychological barriers. We seek to expand our activities not only through administrative support but also through various forms of assistance from each individual, such as donations, supporting memberships, and Furusato Nozei (hometown tax donations).

Japan's Serious Mental Health Problems

As mental health issues have become more familiar in Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revised its medical plan in 2013, adding "mental illness" to the four major diseases, making them five major diseases. The number of patients with mental illness in 2008 (3.23 million) was not only numerically higher than diabetes (2.37 million), cancer (1.52 million), cerebrovascular disease (1.34 million), and ischemic heart disease (0.81 million), but its growth rate was also exceptionally high. Furthermore, nearly 30,000 suicides occur annually, and Japan's suicide rate is considerably higher compared to Western developed countries.

In 2018, the number of truant elementary and junior high school students was 144,031, which continues to increase despite a decrease in the total number of children, indicating that countermeasures are still necessary. In addition, there are many other social problems that are thought to be caused by various mental stresses, making it urgent to address mental health issues in Japan.

Is Counseling a Familiar Presence for Japanese People?

As a clinical psychologist, I often hear people say, "This is a very necessary job in this day and age." I believe this is because many people are witnessing those around them taking leave from work due to depression, experiencing mental instability, or being unable to attend school. I personally feel that there is indeed a need. However, how familiar has counseling become to everyone? For child counseling, the placement of school counselors has progressed, making it a more familiar presence than before. But when adults consider receiving counseling, how accessible is it?

High Counseling Fees are One Factor Making it Difficult to Access

Overseas, in addition to psychiatric and psychosomatic medical care, counseling and psychotherapy are also emphasized for mental health problems, and we often see counseling scenes in movies and dramas. However, in Japan, its widespread adoption is still insufficient, and since it is not covered by insurance, the fees are generally high, ranging from 7,000 to 15,000 yen per session, making counseling and psychotherapy difficult to access. Many people face diverse problems that cannot be resolved with limited consultation time at psychiatric or psychosomatic clinics, and they suffer from mental health issues for long periods without reaching the option of counseling or psychotherapy.

The Loss of Prolonged Mental Health Problems

Are you familiar with DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Year), an indicator of disease burden? It quantifies the total loss of life and disability due to various diseases, not merely as the number of deaths, patient occurrences, or shortened lifespans, but also considering other suffering, disabilities, and loss of healthy life. It allows us to see the loss that diseases inflict on society.

Looking at the DALY values for each disease in Japan, mental illness shows the highest result, surpassing cancer. While mental illness accounts for a small proportion of total deaths, considering the years affected by mental illness, it has a very significant impact on the population. Suffering for long periods without resolving problems greatly hinders a healthy life for individuals and leads to social loss. From these points, it is clear that "mental illness" is an important theme for disease countermeasures in Japan, but as mentioned earlier, Japan's efforts in mental health are currently lagging behind other countries.

Support is Needed to Accompany Those Who Have Suffered for a Long Time in Their Loneliness

What is most emphasized in counseling is "empathy." We listen carefully to the client's situation, background, and experiences, and empathize with their current feelings. Among the problems that emerge in such discussions, many individuals face economic anxieties. They continue to suffer from mental distress, struggle to adapt to social life such as work, and have poor future prospects. The more I hear such stories and understand their feelings, the more I realize the significant impact of counseling fees and how many people give up on receiving counseling. I believe there are quite a few cases where people who might have had their lives changed by counseling are unable to receive it and continue to suffer for a long time. Furthermore, even when people finally receive counseling and improve, many feel, "I wish I had received counseling sooner." When the timing of receiving counseling is delayed, even if the problem improves, a sense of regret remains for the irreplaceable time they could not live as they wished.

We Want to Deliver Counseling to More People!

We intend to continue supporting those who need counseling under the motto "More Counseling for More People." However, your cooperation is essential for our operation and development. Therefore, we kindly ask for your warm donations and sponsorships in agreement with this purpose.

Activities Supported by Your Contributions

Donations and membership fees received from everyone are used for the following activities:

Counseling Activities

We provide counseling, psychotherapy, and psychological testing for a wide range of mental health issues, including interpersonal relationships and mental illnesses, for both children and adults. We also conduct group work in addition to individual counseling. Your support allows us to set our fees lower than general rates, and by maintaining current fees, we enable continuous use with a lighter burden for everyone. The number of users is increasing year by year; in 2025, we conducted approximately 5,181 counseling sessions for about 535 users.

Support Activities for Low-Income Individuals: "Gift Counseling Tanpopo"

Since 2019, we have launched "Gift Counseling Tanpopo" as a new support initiative for households receiving public assistance and non-taxable resident households who need counseling but cannot afford it or cannot attend counseling at an appropriate frequency due to economic reasons. This service offers counseling at half the regular fee. Your support is also used for this activity.

Details here → https://sara-ch.com/pdf/TanpopoGuide2024.pdf

Activities for Improving the Skills of Mental Health Professionals

Mental health professionals strive for self-improvement daily, acquiring knowledge and improving their skills to provide high-quality services. Counseling Office SARA conducts various training sessions for these professionals.
[Past Training Sessions] Sandplay/Collage Research Group, In-depth Case Study Group, Understanding and Thinking about Groups, Adaptive Music Therapy Group, etc.

Mental Health Awareness and Outreach Activities

To provide counseling services to more people, we publish columns on our website, share information on Facebook, hold public lectures, and conduct other public relations activities. We also issue newsletters for members and donors, and email magazines.

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Methods of Support

① Donate money or unused postcards, stamps, or gift certificates directly to SARA

This is the easiest way to donate. You can decide the donation amount yourself. Payment methods include bank transfer, credit card payment, etc.

Please also donate any unused postcards, miswritten postcards, stamps, or gift certificates. They will be used for SARA's outreach and awareness activities. For details, please contact us by email or phone.
In any case, we would like to send you a thank-you letter and activity report from SARA, so please fill in the required fields such as your name on the "Reservation/Inquiry" form and notify us of your donation.

Click here for details on how to donate directly to SARA

https://sara-ch.com/member_kifu.html#kifu1

Click here to donate by credit card

https://checkout.square.site/pay/d92e404675d241daa3e3d84cd1987aac

② Support using Furusato Nozei (hometown tax donation)

You can donate to SARA by designating SARA as the recipient of your Furusato Nozei through the systems of Kanagawa Prefecture or Yokohama City. Residents outside Kanagawa Prefecture can not only support SARA but also receive a return gift by using Kanagawa Prefecture's Furusato Nozei system. Currently,

Many people are supporting us through Furusato Nozei, and these contributions are used for reduced-fee counseling for low-income individuals and for holding public lectures.

Utilizing Furusato Nozei