Fellowship Award

Applicant eligibility criteria

• Applicants must be able to present in English at the 22nd Annual Convention of the Japanese Association for Cognitive Therapy as a symposiast.
• Applicants must be residing outside of Japan, and their primary purpose of their travel to Japan must be to present at the Annual Convention.
• Applicants must be below the age of 45 at the time of participation to the Annual Convention.
• Applicants must choose one of the two themes below and submit 300-400 words abstract.
• Applicants must be able to participate in the JACT Fellowship Award Recipients program.

1. Interventions for severe mental illness (SMI)

On 1 November 2021, Dr. Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive therapy, had sadly passed away. It was during his later years where Dr. Beck had poured his passion on the Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R), aimed to facilitate recovery for individuals with severe mental illness.

One of the core principles that Dr. Beck had identified was ‘aspiration’, a term referring to dreams or desires within reach. Even with a severe mental illness, individuals will be able to take a step forward by achieving their aspirations in everyday life.

This year’s symposium will provide opportunities to engage in discussions on such interventions for serious mental illness. Applicants should submit an abstract on the following areas on the topic of interventions for serious mental illness.

1. Explain the interventions or strategies (including cognitive behavior therapy or psychological therapy) for serious mental illness practiced in your country.
2. Cognitive behavior therapy or psychological therapy are important aspects of treatment for serious mental illness. Explain how cognitive behavior therapy or psychological therapy are trained in your country.
3. Explain how your country applies cognitive behavior therapy or psychological therapy for serious mental illness (or discuss how the applicant wishes these modalities be applied in the future).
4. Provide a short case report, based on an actual case, on the approach method for serious mental illness.

2. Problems and strategies regarding the mental health of the citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major changes to the everyday life across the world. Some of the changes are policy-related, such as lockdowns and restrictions on social gatherings, while others are non-policy-related, such as encouragement of remote working and refraining to eat out or go on vacations. Due to such changes, there sre reports identifying effects to the individual’s mental health.

The mental health of those who had caught COVID-19 also of concern.

This symposium aims to gather current evidence related to the effect of COVID-19 on mental health, and prepare ourselves for future pandemics and emergency situations.

Applicants should submit an abstract on the following areas on the topic of mental health or psychosocial problems that increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Explain your country’s situation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Explain the mental health or psychosocial problems that may have increased in your country since the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Cognitive behavior therapy is expected to have an active role in not only treating the condition, but also in contributing towards wellbeing, and the use of digital technology is seeing a rapid increase in Japan. Explain the strategies needed (or have been implemented) to address the mental health or psychosocial problems that have increased since the pandemic. Strategies include psychological interventions using technology and distant treatment.
4. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the risk of increased stress due to potential reasons such as digitalization weakening the human interaction and connection. Explain notable individual-level stress management interventions used in your country.

Award ceremony

The award ceremony for the Fellowship Award will be held during the Annual Convention, and the Recipients (6 people maximum）will receive around \100,000 JPY, registration fee, and post-event reception fee.

The award fee will be decided based on the economic data of the Recipient’s place of residence published by the World Bank (World Bank A・B Category Countries: around \70,000 JPY; C・D Category Countries: around \140,000 JPY), and the final decision made by the Chair of the 22nd Annual Convention of the Japanese Association for Cognitive Therapy.

The Recipients are expected to:

• Attend all three days of the Annual Convention
• Participate in at least one workshop
• The Recipients will have the opportunity to engage in research with Japanese psychological practitioners and researchers

Application procedure

Applications must be completed on the provided form (including the 300 words abstract) and submitted via email to the 22nd Annual Convention of the Japanese Association for Cognitive Therapy Office before the deadline.

Selection process will be conducted to decide the successful applicants.

Application format：Fellowship Award Appliaction（12KB）
Place of submission：
Submission deadline：August 15, 2022, 23:59 (JST)

※The submission of Fellowship Award is now closed.