The present study aimed to assess the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) competences of trainees enrolled in a two-year accredited master’s course in clinical psychology in Japan, and compare their competence levels with those trainees enrolled in a one-year postgraduate CBT diploma course accredited by the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) in the UK. Participants (Japan=162, UK=29) responded to questionnaires assessing their CBT competences. Descriptive data suggested that most Japanese trainees regarded themselves as being able to demonstrate little to none of the required CBT competences. The UK trainees rated their CBT competences to be significantly higher than the Japanese trainees on all competence items. Moreover, the number of counselling cases experienced during the training predicted the generic therapeutic competences among Japanese trainees. Furthermore, the number of initial intake interviews performed by the trainees predicted their basic CBT competences, specific CBT techniques, and meta-competences. The key limitations of the study were differences in participants’ age and their experiences prior to the enrolment in the course reported between the two countries. Future studies should consider the effects of these factors on trainees’ CBT competences.

The purpose of this study was to reduce public stigma toward mental illness through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and to measure its effects implicitly. Participants were 79 undergraduate students studying psychology, and the experiment followed a 3 (Time: Pre, Post, FU)×2 (Group: ACT, Education)×2 (Psychological flexibility: High, Low) design. According to the linear mixed model, there were no significant differences between ACT and educational intervention. Therefore, 1) whether ACT intervention or education intervention is more effective in reducing stigma was not determined, 2) there was no significant correlation between the implicit and explicit measure, so that there was possibility that both measurement measured different dimension of stigma. It was suggested that the improvement of intervention and measurement are needed.

There is sufficient knowledge about the theory of cognitive behavior therapy, but there is little information about identifying whether therapies trace the process of the assumed remedial cognitive change. In recent years, “sense making” has been suggested as a way of identifying cognitive change. “Sense making” refers to the understanding of information that would lead to behavioral change. However, it is unclear how therapists observe the “sense making” in clients. In this study, we interviewed 21 clinical psychologists specializing in CBT and examined the importance of “sense making” in cognitive behavior therapy. With regard to the results, we obtained reports of the observation of “sense making” in a clinical setting, as well as consideration of concrete viewpoints for observing “sense making.” Future research is needed to create an index of “sense making” usable in clinical settings.

Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised (WAI-SR) is known to have good psychometric properties, but no Japanese version has been developed till date. In this study, we created a Japanese version of the WAI-SR, i.e., the J-WAI-SR, and examined its reliability and validity. As a result of comparing the several fit indices (Post Predictive p-value and DIC) of each model with the factor structure of J-WAI-SR by Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis, it was determined that J-WAI-SR has a three-factor structure. With regard to reliability, sufficient internal consistency was obtained (α＝.93, .96), and the test-retest reliability was within the acceptable range (ICC agreement＝.75). Therefore, we could establish the reliability and validity of J-WAI-SR.