Counseling and Psychotherapy in Tokyo Japan

Dr. Berger is an English and Japanese speaking American Board-Certified Psychiatrist in Tokyo conducting psychotherapy and psychological counseling for foreigners as a therapist in the Shibuya-Ebisu area of central Tokyo, Japan (Meguro-ku, Shibuya-ku, Setagaya-ku, Minato-ku area of Tokyo). Dr. Berger is experienced as a psychotherapist in individual mental health counseling, marriage counseling, couples counseling-particularly Japanese-Western couples, divorce counseling, child and adolescent counseling, family therapy, and group psychotherapy in Japan. Based in Tokyo, Dr. Berger had served on the Faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry in New York as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Berger also has a Ph.D. in Medical Science from the University of Tokyo School of Medicine received while at the Tokyo University Department of Psychosomatic Medicine. Dr. Berger is currently the Director of the Meguro Counseling Center, a mental health center in Tokyo, and all clients are seen in affiliation with this center.

The office is a 5-minute walk from Yutenji Station on the Toyoko line, less than 10-minutes from Shibuya or Ebisu, and about 25-minutes from Yokohama station. In addition, Phone or Skype counseling is often provided for persons living in the Kansai area (Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto). Dr. Berger highly values the professional standards set by the American Psychiatric Association and maintains Continuing Medical Education Credits in order to provide the highest-quality of care possible. Dr. Berger speaks native-level Japanese and regularly conducts psychotherapy in Japanese for the local Japanese community.

There is great difficulty in finding an adequate English speaking mental health clinic in Tokyo such that psychological counseling for foreigners in the Tokyo area is an important and underserved healthcare need. Clients who entrust Dr. Berger with their counseling needs are treated kindly and professionally, and the work at hand in the care of these persons and their issues is taken extremely seriously. Some of the more common conditions Dr. Berger works with include self-confidence problems, personality disorders, relationship/family problems, depression and manic depression, anxiety, panic disorder, ADD/ADHD, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, substance and alcohol abuse, history of traumatic experiences (PTSD)/child abuse, feelings of unreality, sleep disturbances, psychosomatic (mind/body) disorders, women's issues, gay and lesbian issues, child and adolescent issues, and others.

Dr. Berger is particularly experienced in the treatment of depression, please refer to the Counseling Tokyo: Depression & Anxiety Specialists page for more information. Dr. Berger also has considerable experience in the treatment of child and adolescent disturbances. Please refer to the Tokyo Child and Adolescent Counseling Service home page for information on the mental health care of children and adolescents in Tokyo. Further details on specific conditions can be seen in the description of case examples.

Dr. Berger and his associates also provide Corporate training and conflict resolution in Japan; and Dr. Berger has worked as an expert forensic psychiatrist in Japan.

Therapy in Chinese is also available from Dr. Berger with the help of a translator who has experience in the translation of psychotherapy sessions together with Dr. Berger. Chinese counseling sessions can be conducted in person or by phone for those that live in China or Taiwan. Dr. Berger also speaks conversational Chinese.

Counseling Approach

Dr. Berger strives to create a friendly and compassionate atmosphere in his counseling style that has an eclectic approach to psychotherapy. This means that a balance of the different major types of therapy (cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, supportive, group psychotherapy, and others) is employed to fit with what each individual requires in order to achieve the goals set in the counselling sessions.

Dr. Berger often uses a Core Issue-Defense Paradigm in psychotherapy. The central theme here is that everyone has certain core issues like feeling inadequate or unloved that one sometimes makes maladaptive defenses against (ie. trying too hard to get noticed by others or getting into unhealthy romantic relations) that can then lead to trouble for the individual. Understanding and re-working these defenses and how they lead to trouble, as well as minimizing the effects of one's core issues, is a very useful tool in therapy. Case Examples are also included in the Core Issue-Defense Paradigm description.

Sometimes an illness like severe depression or anxiety may require medication in order to allow talk therapy to jump-start. Dr. Berger has considerable experience in using psychiatric medications and keeps up to date with the many medications used in Western countries that are not yet available in Japan. Dr. Berger works together with a number of physicians licensed in Japan who can provide a prescription as appropriate, functioning similarly to a clinical psychologist in Tokyo in interfacing with any necessary psychiatric treatment in Tokyo. Please refer to the Psychiatric Medication Referral page for further details).

The Therapy Approach page has detailed descriptions of some of the therapies mentioned here.

Topics of Research

Dr. Berger has published a number of research papers on topics including expatriate adaptation to living in Japan, eating disorders, dissociative disorders and child abuse, parental bonding, personality disorders, schizophrenia, cross-cultural issues related to Japan, suicide in medical patients, comparison of Japanese and American psychiatrists' attitude to patient's wishing to die in the general hospital, psychiatric drug development in Japan, antidepressant clinical trial methodology and development in Japan, and others. Dr. Berger has also given a number of presentations on these and other topics at various international conferences.

These papers can be read on the Medical Papers page.

Dr. Berger also sponsors the Douglas M. Berger Psychopharmacology Research Fellowship in Japan for foreign psychiatry residents or Ph.D. candidates to study a clinical psychopharmacology topic related to psychiatric treatment in Japan in collaboration with a Japanese host scientist; and a portion of the counseling proceeds are donated to the Rockefeller University Neuroscience Research Department in New York City.

Qualifications

Dr. Berger is a graduate of New York Medical College where he obtained his Medical Doctor's (M.D.) degree. He then completed a 4-year residency program in psychiatry at the New York Medical College Department of Psychiatry and qualified as an American Board-Certified Psychiatrist (Certificate No. 34086). Dr. Berger's Board Certification in Psychiatry can be verified through the web site of the American Board of Medical Specialties (you first have to register to use this service). You can also click here to see a cached version of Dr. Berger's Board Certification search results.

Dr. Berger's Japanese qualifications include a Ph.D. in Medical Science from the University of Tokyo School of Medicine (Registration No.11965), received while at the Tokyo University Department of Psychosomatic Medicine. Dr. Berger also has many years of experience in Japan as a medical student, psychiatric researcher, and psychotherapist. Dr. Berger's M.D. is from the United States, he does not practice medical care in Japan.

All diplomas and Board Certifications are displayed in the therapy office. Further profile details can be seen on the About Dr. Berger page.

Contact Information

E-mail inquiries may be sent using the E-mail Submission Form or click the painting at the page top. Please provide your telephone numbers (home, work, and cellular) if you send an e-mail. All inquiries will be replied to promptly either by Dr. Berger or one of his associates. Please call if you do not receive a reply within 2 days, as the server may be down on occasion.

Location and Appointments

Therapy hours are by appointment and include mornings and evenings Monday through Thursday, and mornings on Friday, Saturday, and national holidays. Click here: Practice Details for further information on this counseling service in Tokyo Japan.