Abstract
Competencies are a set of qualities and abilities necessary for job roles. In Japan, these are essential for outcome-based education in the training stage of human service professionals. The competency models have been emphasized in the training of psychological professionals in the U.S., and this paper discusses its effectiveness in the training of psychological professionals, especially Certified Public Psychologists in Japan, based on previous research. Most elements of functional competencies were shown to be applicable in Japan with the addition of mental health education. A significant portion of the foundational competencies can be organized as common in U.S. and Japanese expertise, and it is imperative to hone them as reflective practice alongside other competency elements. In Japan, despite the concept of training psychological professionals based on such competencies not being given much attention, there are many common aspects that have been emphasized in the actual training activities. Thus, incorporating the competency concept in them will be an important perspective for improving the quality of training.
