山陽論叢 第 23 巻 （2016）

ReportReportSanyo Gakuen University and College Student
Counseling Room (Kokosapo) Activity Report 2015–2016
Ryota Masuda1,2), Reiko Kamiji1,2),
Maiko Kobayashi2), Nobuyuki Kobayashi1)
Key Words: Student Counseling, Psychoeducation, Peer Group Work
1. Introduction
The Departments of Nursing, Human Sciences, Food & Nutrition, and Preschool
Education at Sanyo Gakuen University and College comprise about 1,000 students andfaculty members. The student counseling room at Sanyo Gakuen, which is commonlyreferred to as the kokosapo (a shortened version of “kokoro no sapōto” in Japanese,
meaning “mental support”), was established in April 2003. After Ishihara summarized
the first decade of the student counseling room in terms of users and services in 2013,
we published the Sanyo Gakuen University and College Student Counseling Room(Kokosapo) Activity Report 2013–2014. In our report, we examined client data from2015–2016 to elucidate a number of issues related to the future of the student
counseling room.
2. Methods
During 2015–2016, the opening hours of the student counseling room were between
12:30 and 17:10 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Two clinicalpsychologists, who were also members of the Faculty of Human Science, each provided
counseling services one day per week, and another psychologist provided part-time
service the other two days. Excluding that between February and March 2017, allclient data from the student counseling room between 2015 and 2016 were obtained forthis study.
1)Faculty of Human Sciences Department of Psychology & Human Life, Sanyo

Gakuen University2)Student Counseling Room (‘Kokosapo’), Sanyo Gakuen University and College- 153 -Masuda ・ Kamiji ・ Kobayashi ・ Kobayashi ： Sanyo Gakuen
University andStudent Counseling Room (Kokosapo ) Activity Report 2015–2016
山陽論叢第College23 巻（2016）

3. Results
From 2015 to 2016, the number of consultations decreased from 310 to 240, as
shown in Table 1. During these past 2 years, the peak demand periods were from April
to July and from September to January, when the university was in session.
From 2015 to 2016, the number of consulted individuals decreased from 40 to 28, asshown in Table 2. The contents of the consultations comprised all major health issues,
including mental health, which was the most prevalent issue, followed by school andcareer issues, as shown in Table 3.
In addition, to promote more successful adaptation to college life, several different
stress management and communication programs were offered. The full list ofpsychoeducation courses offered to university students by grade is shown in Table 4.
Furthermore, a new peer group work program was introduced in the 2016 academicyear (Table 1, Table 5). This new program involved a preparatory meeting in May
regarding the curriculum guidance session to be held in June, the guidance session
itself in June, and group work in July to review the meeting and session.
Table 1. Total number of consultations from 2015–2016
Counseling

Telephone/Consultation/Peer Group

Letter/E-mailOthers†

Work

2015

2016

2015

2016

2015

2016

2016

April

32

1903530May

35

29013815

June

45

32

2015

312

July

30

20

203117

August2000000

September

15

9210

10

October

30

150

1200

November

25

2100

100

December

18

1500200

January26

1400

100February

11-‡0-‡2-‡-‡

March0-‡0-‡0-‡-‡

Total

270

17466341644†Others included consultations for teachers, advising the parents of students, andcooperation with external expert organizations.
‡Client data from February to March 2017 were excluded from these categories as thecounselling room’s statistical data was calculated in 31 January 2017.

- 154 -

山陽論叢
（2016）
山陽論叢 第第 23
23 巻巻（2016）

Table 2. Number of clients from 2015–2016
NewOngoingNew

Ongoing

cases

cases

cases

cases

in 2016from 2015

in 2015

from 2014

First

404

40

4

Second1233710

Third3811246

Fourth03367

13

Subtotal81321151833First

404404

Second213123

Subtotal

61752728202040

Grade2016
total

2015
total

UniversityJuniorcollege

Total

Table 3. Contents individual consultations from 2015–2016
School andcareer path
· Area of study· Change ofschools· Temporary
Consultation

absence orcontents

withdraw fromschool

Adapting· Extracurricular
activities

Psychologicallivingassessment· Health· Personality· Economy

test· Housing· Vocational· Otherinterest test

· Interpersonal
relations· Love orsexual identity· Personality· Home· Philosophy· CareerHealth and· Mental
health2016423102015

4341

1- 155 -Masuda ・ Kamiji ・ Kobayashi ・ Kobayashi ： Sanyo Gakuen
University andStudent Counseling Room (Kokosapo ) Activity Report 2015–2016
山陽論叢
第College23 巻（2016）

Table 4. Psychoeducation courses offered to students from 2015–2016
No Date1Faculty

2015.5.18 Nutrition

GradeFirst

Contents ofProgramNumber of

psychoeducation

time (min)students

Communication

50

120

180

8507190990

9Contents ofProgramNumber of

Psychoeducation

time (min)students

90

15180

1290

17Program Skills
2

2015.7.13 Nursing

ThirdStress
Management &Assertion
Program3

2016.1.25 Nutrition

FirstAssertion
Program4

2016.7.4.

Nursing

ThirdAssertion
Program5

2016.7.11 Nursing

Third

StressManagement

Table 5. Peer group work for students in 2016
No Date1Faculty

2016.5.18 Human
sciences

GradeFourth,

Meeting ofThirdcurriculum
guidance for thefoundation stage2

2016.6.15 HumanFirst

sciences

Peer group workfor college
curriculum3

2016.7.20 Human
sciences

Fourth,Encounter group

Third

4. Discussion
The primary objective of the present study was to examine client data from 2015–2016 and elucidate issues related to the future of the student counseling room.
The results suggested that: 1) there were 240 total consultations; 2) many students
visited the student counseling room during class hours; 3) the primary consultation
contents were about health, including mental health; 4) numerous stress management
and communication programs were offered; and 5) Peer group work was conducted in
the first semester. The findings of the present study were similar to those reported byIshihara (2013) and Masuda et al. (2015).

- 156 -

山陽論叢
（2016）
山陽論叢 第第 2323 巻
巻（2016）

The results also suggest that psychotherapy, including psychoeducation programsfor students, teacher consultations, advising the students’ parents, cooperating withexternal expert organizations, and peer group work, not only in the student counselingroom, but also in the community, has the potential to promote improved mental healthin university students.
The decrease in the total number of consultations in 2016 compared to previous
years may have been due to the reduction in emergency support regarding self-harmand attempted suicide. Conversely, the need for guest psychoeducation classes in otherfaculties and peer group work was high. During peer group work, although a counselor
took on the role of group leader, group progress was actually in the hands of seniorstudents (second and third year Human Science students), which enabled theparticipants (first year Human Science students) to better relate to the discussion
content. This background suggests that high interesting for activity for student
counseling room(“kokosapo”) and high motivation of counseling in “kokosapo” areinfluenced by the presence of their immediate seniors and by the fact that thecounselors in “kokosapo” are also faculty members. In other words, it can be
hypothesized that prior acquaintance between counselors and clients makes a major
contribution to the counseling motivation in “kokosapo”.
Future issues involve the need to 1) proactively conduct guest psychoeducation
classes in all faculties to enable students from faculties other than the counselors’
faculty to become acquainted with the counselors, and 2) conduct peer group work ineach faculty throughout the year, not only in the first semester. To resolve these issues,
proactively incorporating peer group work and guest classes taught by counselors into
the educational curriculum of each faculty should be considered.
5. Notes
1) This research was supported by a research grant from Sanyo Gakuen University.
2) We would like to thank Forte Inc. for their English language editing service.

6. References
1) Ishihara, M. (2013) Activities over 10 years and future topics of discussion regarding
the Student Counseling Room of Sanyo Gakuen University and College. Sanyo

Review, Vol. 20, p107–120. (In Japanese.)2) Masuda, R., Kamiji, R.&Nakano,M.(2015) Activity Report of the Student Counseling
Room (kokosapo) of Sanyogakuen University and College, 2013–2014. Sanyo Review,Vol. 22, p137–143.

- 157 -