We live with various problems in our daily lives. There are many different types of psychological support, including stress from the family and social environment, mental and physical illnesses, disasters, and accidents. In order to solve these problems, many psychological therapies and community support activities are important. In order to acquire knowledge and skills for these support activities, we will proceed with the class by sharing ideas through lectures, group work, and discussions. In addition to the history and significance of clinical psychology, we will learn practical methods of assessment and support, and acquire practical communication skills for building good human relationships. In addition, we will touch on mental health education and crisis support, including the perspectives of family, society, and culture. I would be happy if this course will serve as an opportunity for students to reflect on themselves, be considerate of others, and become a guide for living a rich social life. Let's help each other and cultivate a spirit of learning.
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
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糖心视频 CAMPUS
Understand cognitive, developmental, social and clinical psychology;
We train "mental health specialists" who can provide practical solutions to problems of the human mind.
MOVIES ?
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Department of Psychology [Student-led Department Introduction Video]
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Department of Psychology Department Introduction 2024
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Department of Psychology Department Introduction Video
FEATURES ?
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Four specialized fields and two courses to match your career path
After acquiring basic knowledge and attitudes through "Psychology Foundations," students will specialize in the four areas of "cognition," "development," "society," and "clinical." In addition, students will hone their thinking skills through subjects related to "philosophy and epistemology." We have introduced a two-course system: the "General Psychology Course," which allows students to freely select classes according to their career path, and the "Clinical Psychology Course," which aims to help students become licensed psychologists or clinical psychologists.
※There may be a limit on the number of students admitted to the Clinical Psychology course. If the number of applicants exceeds the limit, selection will be based on GPA, reports, and interviews. More details will be explained at the orientation after enrollment. -
Qualifications for Licensed Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists
It is possible to take the courses required to obtain the qualifications of Certified Public Psychologist or Clinical Psychologist. The Certified Public Psychologist qualification is a national qualification for psychology professionals, and it can be obtained by fulfilling the prescribed curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate school master's programs and passing the national examination. Aoyama Gakuin University and graduate school are prepared to help students obtain the qualifications to take the Certified Public Psychologist examination. In addition, the graduate school's master's program (Clinical Psychology course) is designated as a Class 1 program by the Japan Clinical Psychologist Certification Association, which allows graduates to obtain the qualifications to take the Clinical Psychologist examination without having to gain practical experience after graduation.
For information on how to substitute subjects for the national qualification exam "Certified Psychologist" for Department of Psychology please click here. -
Department of Psychology Joint Research Lab
Any student in Department of Psychology may use the center. It is equipped with psychology-related books, magazines, and computers, providing an environment in which students can study freely.
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Aoyama Psychological Society - Student-led exchange across grade levels -
The Psychological Society is a voluntary gathering of undergraduate and graduate students, full-time faculty, and alumni. The society holds lectures and study sessions, publishes the Aoyama Psychological Research journal, and also organizes a variety of events such as freshman orientations and graduation parties. These events are primarily run independently by students, creating a homely atmosphere that transcends the boundaries of student years.
PICK UP LECTURES ?
What do your parents think about every day? What are they worried about right now? Why is that child throwing a tantrum and rolling over in the store behaving like that? Why do elderly people keep retelling the same memories?
In the first class, I pose this question to students, but most of them respond that they had never thought about it before. Even though we see many different people living their lives and interact with many different people every day, we are surprisingly unaware of what people of different generations think and do.
In this class, in addition to lectures, students will learn about the mechanisms of human mental transformation and development from birth to death through viewing video materials and discussions.
By using what you have learned in class as a guide to thinking about your past and the path you are heading down, you will not only gain a deeper understanding of yourself, but also realize that you have grown up and been nurtured through the interactions with the people around you, and that everyone around you is facing developmental challenges unique to their age.
Student Voice
When I first started taking classes, my mind was full of thoughts about my present self, but as I attended the lectures, I began to look back on my past self, imagine my future, and imagine the experiences and feelings of my family, including my parents and grandparents. Through these experiences, I was able to feel a connection with the past and reexamine my relationships with my family, and I feel like I have gained a sense of self-establishment and stability little by little.
Psychology is a discipline that uses scientific methods to elucidate the workings of the human mind. This can be extremely useful when trying to understand humans and the society that constitutes them. However, clinical psychology must be helpful to the individual who is struggling with their worries and suffering. Simply knowing the general workings of the human mind, as scientifically elucidated, is not enough. Rather, we must aim to understand each person's unique story—"your story," so to speak. Of course, understanding a story does not mean relying on intuitive understanding or understanding derived from one's own experience; theory is still needed to support this. Clinical psychology provides theories that support listening to such "your stories." Through clinical psychology, let's learn together about the fascinating and challenging aspects of understanding individual stories.
Student Voice
This lecture will of course cover symptoms and theory, but throughout the course you will also develop a sense of the fundamentals that make clinical psychology clinical psychology.
In addition, by listening to impressive stories based on his extensive practical experience, you will get a glimpse of what clinical psychology deals with and the pain it causes. Clinical psychology has a different texture from other fields. In these lectures, which are like a mirror, you will learn about mental issues while also thinking about yourself, people, and how to live.
Every week, students conduct experiments on basic phenomena and learn the process of how to draw conclusions from the results (data) they obtain. They then learn how to summarize their findings in the form of a paper, and submit a report summarizing the "problem," "objective," "method," "results," and "discussion" for the experiment.
Through lectures and seminars, students can learn basic research methods in psychology (quantitative and qualitative methods).In addition to acquiring basic knowledge and techniques, students will also deepen their understanding of empirical thinking, problem-solving skills, research paper writing methods, and research ethics.
PICK UP SEMINARS ?
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Recognition: Matsuda Seminar
We conduct experimental psychological research into cognition, emotion, and motivation. We use a focus on measuring biological signals, as well as behavioral indicators such as reaction time and questionnaires to get to the heart of the human mind. Each student will choose their research topic based on their own interests. After clarifying what it is they want to know, they will develop a research plan, collect data, perform statistical processing, and consider the results. In each process, faculty members will provide advice and guidance based on their own research experience. The work of research, which aims to "scientifically clarify things that no one has known before and communicate them to others," is extremely fun and fascinating. We hope to share this enjoyment through the seminar.
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Development: Sakagami Seminar
From the perspective of life-span developmental psychology, we will conduct research over the course of a year, focusing on issues related to the development of individuals and relationships (parents and children, friends, lovers, spouses, families, etc.). Each student will set a research theme based on their own experiences in their upbringing, such as "growing up," "being raised," "raising," and "growing together," and will learn the process of organizing previous research, creating a research plan, collecting and analyzing data, and considering the results. When working on their graduation research, we encourage students to actively visit child-rearing, childcare, and intergenerational exchange sites. We believe that the role of teachers is to support students in shaping what they want to know. In the seminar, we expect students to "grow together" through active participation and lively discussion.
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Social Studies: Shigemasu Seminar
This is a social psychological study of what kind of interpersonal communication has what kind of effect. Regarding the effects of communication with people around us, each seminar student selects a topic according to their interests from four areas: 1) interpersonal relationships, 2) workplace and organizational behavior, 3) advertising psychology and consumer behavior, and 4) comparative culture and cross-cultural adaptation. The seminar begins with students asking their own questions, and in order to find the answer, they conduct research in the following order: understanding previous research → grasping the problem through preliminary research → verifying the problem through the main study.
By holding repeated group discussions and conducting research collaboratively, the seminar itself aims to create a synergistic effect through interpersonal communication. -
Clinical: Ueda Seminar
Each student will set a research topic based on their psychological interests, conduct research and experiments on that topic, and write a research paper based on the results. It is important for all members of the seminar to discuss and cooperate with each other while conducting research. I am personally interested in clinical psychological issues in the field of education, but I would like to accept and support as many different research topics as possible, as long as they are topics that you can research from a psychological perspective about a phenomenon that interests you. Research is not a learning experience where you answer questions that are given to you. You will ask your own questions and solve them yourself. I believe that asking your own questions, investigating, and persuasively presenting the findings to others will be an invaluable asset for your future life.
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Philosophy: Irifuji Seminar
The purpose of the seminar is to have students apply the "philosophical" attitude they have learned in philosophical epistemology and philosophical literature reading exercises to their own problems. Philosophical (or so-called) problems are not given to them by others. Only those who have a problem in mind beforehand can give it shape.
We won't know what format it will take until we try it, but I think the basic idea of reading philosophical literature together, thinking about it together, and discussing it will remain the same.
*Graduation theses only