This isn’t the kind of video I usually make. I usually opt for something more fun or humorous. But we need to talk about mental health. And when you live in a country with a high suicide rate, it’s not really a laughing matter.
This video is about a terrible experience I had with an American counselor in Tokyo. It still baffles me how this person is allowed to practice to this day, given that his behavior is offensive and questionably legal.
What I wasn’t able to say in the video was how much this person harassed me for missing an appointment that I did not make in the first place. I received daily e-mails asking me to pay for a service I did not ask for, nor did I avail of. He even called my best friend (whom I wrote as an emergency contact) and asked for my whereabouts. If that isn’t creepy, I don’t know what is.
I’m not first one he has threatened to sue for a missed appointment. And if this happens to you, know this: all that crap he says about going to the Tokyo Small Claims Court is a lie. Check the appointment slip he claims to have given you. Does it have a date when it was written? Does it have your full name? Does it say anywhere that it’s an appointment slip? If not, then what he has is garbage. A mere manifestation of his delusions. That won’t account for anything. Believe me, two lawyers were kind enough to check his threats. They just laughed and dismissed them as mere whining.
And don’t even, for a second, think that he will get his way with Japanese people or the Tokyo Small Claims Court because he claims to be “fully bilingual.” His so-called language skills are a joke. I didn’t get to witness them first-hand, but my best friend (a Japanese girl) whom he called to reach me said that his Japanese was odd and that he couldn’t express himself well. Hah!
I’ll end this post on a positive note. Yes, I went through a horrible experience — but it’s precisely because I did that I realized so many people were willing to help me without even thinking twice about it. I am incredibly indebted to these beautiful souls. Again, I send my heartfelt gratitude to you all.
Like I said in the video, bad things will always happen. But what these bad things are matter less than how we shape them into something of value. And that resilience is something no loser of a doctor can ever break.
