May, 2024

Counseling Case
ExampleDear employees,

Edit and Issue

HOKENDOHJIN-FRONTIER, Inc.
Human Frontier Counseling Center
4F Aoyama 1-Chome Tower, 1-3-3,
Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
107-0062, Japan
Tel: 03-6747-6250

We offer psychological counseling via in-person meeting, telephone and email. Pleasefeel free to call us at our toll-free number 0120-783-744 for an appointment. The number
can be reached by mobile phones. It is our hope that our counseling service could insome way, however small, contribute to your well-being and productivity.

Schedule a counseling appointment

０１２０－７８３－７４４
Office hours:(excluding holidays)

Monday through Friday１０：００～２０：００
Saturday

10：00～18：００

E-mail :sodan@humanfrontier.co.jp※In case you would like to know more about our counseling service before you make an initial contact,
we present a typical case example below in the hope that it’d give you a glimpse into our consultation
room. The following case is fictional based roughly on several real cases. The client’s identity isintentionally disguised.

※We will reply to you within two business days
after receiving your message.

A successful case of using both email and telephonecounseling services to help a client find solutions.

Case１©2016, 2024 HOKENDOHJIN-FRONTIER Inc.

Client: Ms. H, in her 20s, office clerk
Background:

Ms. H sent us an email reporting that she was experiencing cold sweats, rapid heartbeat, and dizziness; that
she often couldn’t stop crying in a restroom in her office; and that she did not know any specific reasons forthese. According to her, she was the youngest member of the team at work and she worried if she could
continue working, given her ongoing condition. Further, she wrote that she had visited a hospital and got aprescription for medication, but her symptoms did not improve. She reached out to us for consultation via
email, hoping to find a solution to her current condition.
（Ｃｌ：Client, Ｃｏ: Counselor）【Initial Phase of Counseling】
In the reply to Cl’s initial email, Co highlighted the important points of using email counseling service without
undue stress.

Namely, she is not obliged to answer or respond to every question or email from Co.

Further, any feedback and opinion given by Co should be considered as just one of the reference materials
for her to find the solution.

In the first email, Co asked for the details on her physical condition and problems that were particularly
bothering her. Before identifying and addressing the stress, Co tried to collect information to grasp her
situation in order to take appropriate measures. After several exchanges of emails, Co understood that Cl
suffered from strong feeling of burden. Given a good rapport with the Cl, Co deemed it best to speak andlisten directly and recommended Cl to switch to telephone counseling. Cl agreed to this approach.
【Middle and Closing Phases of Counseling】
In the telephone counseling, Cl was initially nervous in talking directly. However, she began to see that
she was able to share her thoughts and her situation in more detail, which she could not do so by email.
She also experienced that she could share her spontaneous feelings and questions on the spot in thecounseling session. She said that these benefits of telephone counseling helped her sort out her problems
better.
Co shared some useful tips with Cl to help her calm down and relax. Co provided information on physicalreaction to stress as well as on the autonomic nervous system. Co also presented a few stress coping
techniques, such as deep breathing and mindfulness exercises. These techniques were practiced together
in subsequent counseling sessions. Cl reported she started to feel better by focusing on stress coping rather
than on the problem causing the stress.
The counseling sessions went on to discuss and identify the root cause of her stress. This was a crucial
phase of the counseling because we began our counseling sessions focusing on symptoms rather thanwhat was causing her distress.
Listening to her story carefully revealed that she had problems in building good relationship with her teammembers. All of her colleagues were older than her and she felt a big gap between them. She felt she
could not understand them in conversation and she had to be very cautious while interacting with them.
We proceeded with the subsequent sessions assuming that the difficult relationship with her team members
was her major stress. During the sessions, Cl and Co discussed the ways to become aware of feelings ofburden and stress, as well as how to cope with them. As she became more conscious of her stress, shetalked about her stress in different areas of her life, such as her relationship with her mother and the disparity
between her current situation and what she wanted in the future. Co helped her sort out her thoughts andemotions and develop strategies to cope with each issue.
Cl became aware of that she had been overly mindful of others, and that was causing her stress. Throughthe counseling sessions, she learned how to deal with this issue. Gradually, her symptoms subsided; she
stopped crying; and she became able to prioritize her own needs. Eventually, the counseling sessions cameto a close.
In this case, we were able to leverage the telephone counseling starting with the email counseling. The
advantage of email counseling is allowing clients to proceed with the session at their own pace. Additionally,
they can reread what they have written as many times as needed and incorporate it into themselves atdepth.

Clients can choose the counseling method that best suits them, such as face-to-face session, telephonecounseling, online counseling, or email counseling. To Cl in this story, Co introduced these options andexplained that she could continue the counseling in whichever way she felt most comfortable.
The amount of information gained from client during face-to-face or phone sessions is generally more
extensive compared to the one gained in email counseling. In this case, telephone counseling was a
suitable option, although email counseling has its own advantages. Therefore, it is essential to choose
the counseling form that best suits the client. As in this case, it is also possible to use multiple forms,i.e., email and the phone.
In a counseling session, the counselor will listen carefully to the client’s story and ask related questions,in whatever the form the counseling service is provided. It is important to understand that the role of acounselor is not to provide answers or to tell what to do to the client. While the counselor may offer theirthoughts and opinions, the process of finding answers on his/her own in exchanging thoughts andfeelings with a counselor is the essence of counseling.
Instead of trying to deal with problems on your own, why not work together with a counselor to findsolutions?

How to Use Our Service
Type 1 Email counseling
Please email us the following items ❶ and ❷ and primaryissues by email. You can also use our website.

Type 2 Face to face counseling
Please make an appointment by either phone or email.

Type 3 Telephone counseling
When all counselors are occupied, a counselor will contact
you later at the earliest possible convenience.

Please provide us with following information
for making an appointment.
❶Name (anonymity is acceptable)❺Desired type of session❷Company name or registration number □ Face to face (Tokyo/Osaka counseling❸Brief description of the matter
office or any agreed location)
for counseling□ By Microsoft Teams❹Desired date and time of session※The type of counseling you can choose
depends on your contract.

TEL: 0120-783-744
Monday ~ Friday 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm* Excluding holidays

Mail: sodan@humanfrontier.co.jp* If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Furthermore, we manage personal information in accordance with the “Privacy Policy” that is shown in the following URL.
URL https://www.hokendohjin.co.jp/ja/privacy.html