Psychologists apply principles of community psychology in their practice, and it is important for trainee psychologists to learn about this field. However, it is unclear what contents are covered in such courses, and there is a demand on its investigation. This study aims to analyze syllabi from universities and graduate schools offering training courses for psychologists in order to understand the current state of education in community psychology. We conducted a survey to understand and analyze the curricula in this field. It was found that 15 out of the 50 undergraduate universities offered courses entitled ‘Community Psychology’, and at postgraduate level, 5 out of the 50 schools offered such courses. The content of community psychology courses was categorized into topics such as ‘history of community psychology’, ‘basic concepts’ and ‘intervention strategies and methods’. The core content of community psychology was not always taught, and there were variations in the content. It is important to discuss the necessary content to be taught in the future.

This study, conducted by the Education and Training Committee of the Japanese Society of Community Psychology, aimed to elucidate the assessment and intervention strategies employed in Japanese community psychology practice. We conducted six two-hour focus group discussions led by the Japanese Society of Community Psychology directors in 2022. Employing a hybrid thematic analysis approach, we identified 17 codes under four themes: Foundations of Community Practice, Assessment Perspectives and Intervention Techniques, Assessment Perspectives, and Intervention Techniques. Our findings highlight the compatibility between the mindset of community psychology practice and traditional clinical psychology, the integration of assessment and intervention through the “here and now” experience, and an ecological perspective encompassing the practitioner, their immediate social circles, and the broader community. Additionally, we underscored the importance of sustainable engagement with the community’s self-regulatory functions and a focus on community margins. Future considerations include developing and refining these techniques through global discussions among community psychology practitioners. This research also represents a proactive effort to address the emerging needs of community psychologists.

This paper is an experimental ethnography drawn by a cultural anthropologist participating in a support study group organized by the Education and Research Committee of the Japanese Society of Community Psychology, with an awareness of the context of cultural anthropology and clinical psychology in Japan. It has been a long time since ethnography in cultural anthropology has moved from the classical to the experimental. This support study group held six sessions over the course of a year, with about 10 participants each time. The theme of the discourse was initially “Organizing Assessment and Intervention in Community Psychology”, but it was difficult to approach this theme directly, and as we entered the second half of the year, it was as if we were taking part in the process of this support study group becoming a community in the way it approached community psychology, through the difficulties of the planners. In this paper, using anonymous typescripts of discourses exchanged by members of the Japanese Society of Community Psychology on their own activities, we used the KJ method to examine the question, “What does community mean for community psychology?”

This study focuses on a support group for out-of-prefecture evacuees in which the author has been involved for 11 years and 9 months since the Great East Japan Earthquake. It examines the construction and development of a support system for clinical psychological community support for out-of-prefecture evacuees in the event of a large-scale disaster. The author also discusses the issues that have emerged during the process of long-term support for disaster victims. This paper clarifies the fact that in order to provide seamless mid- to long-term support after a disaster, it is important to carefully understand the needs of disaster victims in ever-changing circumstances and to build a flexible support system in cooperation and collaboration with a variety of resources. Furthermore, the study identifies the following issues to be addressed in providing medium- to long-term support: how to encourage empowerment of the disaster victims themselves and support them in the group, and how to maintain staff motivated as the support program continues over the long term.