People seek self-verification from others. Previous studies suggest that striving for self-verification (e.g., the disclosure of accurate self-information and the preservation of a sense of coherence about oneself in social relationships) functionalizes couple relationships in Western cultures. However, there has been little research on couples in Asian cultures. The aim of this study is to address this gap by examining 46 heterosexual Japanese couples. Attitudes and behaviors regarding striving for self-verification, stress communication, and trust in marital relationships were assessed using a questionnaire. In contrast to previous Western studies, Japanese couples striving for self-verification had a stronger association between the attitudes of wives regarding striving for self-verification and their own trust and stress communication than that of their husbands. The role of Asian wives is also discussed.

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome; IBS is digestive disorder which causes constipation or diarrhea along with stomachache or discomfort in the abdomen even though no issue on examination of intestines or blood test show and it often happens to teenager. We have clear guidelines from diagnosis to the end of treatment domestically but most of the research on psychotherapy is from overseas and we do not have many researches in Japan. On this report we show the case for session with teenager who was diagnosed with IBS. This is the case where the client stated that he didn’t have clear stress but suffered with the sudden stomachache without known reason and found out how to deal with it himself in the process of understanding the symptoms. We had three sessions including intake session and he showed the improvement and the case was closed. We observed the three points – the construction of rapport using noise, humor and confusion and the psychotherapy approach toward IBS and what changed CL’s attitude.

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This paper is a brief report on a lecture and workshop, “SFA to suicide prevention” in 8th conference of National Foundation of Brief Therapy held on November 26th and 27th, 2016 at Utsunomiya. A lecturer, Dr. Heather Fiske, gave the workshop on how to encourage clients to get productive choices and to overcome crises of their life: therapists should focus on the slight difference between “intolerable now” and “just barely tolerable after all,” highlight clients’ strengths to keep on living, and not only refrain from suicide but change their frame of problems.

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