Hiroko Sakate

Experience

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  Hanwa Dai 2 Senboku Hospital, Osaka, Japan

  Apr 2005 - Mar 2008

  Clinical Psychologist

  One of my main roles was to conduct psychological assessments for dementia, cognitive impairment, and mental illnesses. I used standard intelligence test tools in Japan, including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and adults (WAIS), tests to diagnose dementia, such as the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Hasegawa Dementia Rating Scale, as well as personality tests. I scored and wrote reports under supervision, as well as explaining the results in meetings with family members and/or other professionals. I held therapy sessions with patients with cancer or mental problems (mainly neurotic). Patients were all ages. I was holding therapy sessions with about 10-12 patients weekly, as well as doing psychological assessments. I attended multi-professional team meetings to discuss care and support for each patient. I worked with other clinical psychologists to organise and provide training to non-psychologist members of staff on mental illness and psychological interventions for in order to provide higher quality of care for patients. Finally, clinical psychology department had the responsibility to support employees. I consulted and counselled other professionals, such as nurses. Show less

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  Shin-Osaka Dental Technology College,

  Apr 2006 - Mar 2012

  School Counsellor

  My main duties were to counsel students who had extensive problems concerning relationships, developmental disorders, and delinquency. Because my capacity and working hours were limited, and also some cases needed to be referred to other professions such as psychiatrists, I often assessed and referred students to another professional. I also had the responsibility to report on my case load to the headmaster of the school.As part of my duties, I also counselled and advised students’ family members as well as teachers both in order to help them to support students more effectively. And with their own difficulties at school. Many teachers were struggling with stressful workloads and difficult relationships with students and co-workers. I offered them adequate support for each case. Show less

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  Izumi Yojiin Children's Home

  May 2007 - Jul 2012

  Clinical psychologist

  My main duties were to hold therapy sessions with children and consult non-psychologist co-workers. I held weekly individual sessions with a child who had attachment problems and had traumatic experiences. I engaged play therapy based on relational theory. Many children and young people had been maltreated before they were taken away from their family, with resulting issues concerning attachment. I was working on about 12 cases weekly. I also conducted mental development tests for children. We used the Tanaka-Binet intelligence test which is a standardized tool in Japan.It is different from WPSSI, mainly because it includes physical development sections. We had meetings to report the results to care workers in order to improve the quality of care for each child. I also reported children’s care team review the support plan and to refer other professions for further assessments and if necessary. In this role, I was responsible for consulting and supervising care workers. Additionally, I carried out regular supervision sessions with all caregivers including senior members of staff. It depended on their needs and concerns, but I often discussed their fatigue in working with traumatised children and leadership and dynamic in the staff team. I regularly visited all projects to engage informal conversation with staff members. I also attended staff meetings and case study meetings. I organised and conducted in-house training for non-psychologist staff; the topics were mainly about child abuse, development, and mental illnesses. Finally, I reported progress in all cares I had in the end of each year to the local authority and twice a year to staff in the organisation so that I would discuss and review therapy plan with co-workers. Show less

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  Nishinomiya Chuou Health and Welfare Centre

  Apr 2008 - Mar 2012

  Mental Development Tester

  I worked there once a month. I assessed children at high risk of developmental disorders such as Autistic spectrum disorders and ADHD. For each child, I initially met their caregivers for information and explained about the Tanaka-Binet intelligence test which I conducted. I then explained the results to nurses and psychiatrists to develop a support plan. Finally I wrote a psychological assessment report for other professionals working with the child.

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  Osaka Prefecture Board of Education, Osaka, Japan

  Apr 2011 - Mar 2012

  School Counsellor

  The main duties were to assess and counsel students who had extensive problems concerning relationships, developmental disorders, and delinquency. Counselling and advising their family members were also my duties. I met with teachers at the school to discuss about students who had problems and consulted teachers to discuss how to support students more effectively. We discussed the best interests of each student and referred in case it was more beneficial for them to use other resources or see another professional. Moreover, many teachers were struggling with stressful situations to deal with excessive workload and relationships with students and co-workers. I had the responsibility to report my caseload to Osaka Prefectural Board of Education.In addition, I initiated support plan when an incident happened. I provided appropriate information about common reactions after each incident; and I offered individual and group support to students who had experienced stressful incidents, For example, I organised a workshop about expressing feelings for all students of a class in which a student experienced an incident. Show less

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  Community Housing & Therapy (CHT)

  Sept 2013 - Sept 2016

  Senior Therapist

  In September 2013, soon after I finished my Master’s course at the University of Nottingham, I started working as an intern at a residential care home for people with severe mental problems such as psychosis and personality disorder. In April 2014, I was promoted to a senior therapist there. My main duties are to run therapeutic programmes and to hold individual therapy sessions, as well as writing reports including risk assessments, support plans, and progress reports.Additionally, I work at the head office to work for international networking with other professionals. I organise meetings and conferences for other professionals such as psychologist, psychiatrists, and therapists. I attend international conferences and work to build professional networking in order to enhance communication and discussion with other professionals. Show less

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  South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

  May 2018 - now

  Licensed Clinical Psychologist

  CAMHS