Momoko Asaka: The Path to Establishing a Counseling Culture

2022/05/23

After graduating from university, I entered the IT industry by chance. At the company where I worked in HR before starting my own business, I saw many people suffering from mental health issues. Even when there were signs of poor health, early intervention was often not possible, frequently leading to long-term leave or resignation. While continuing my career in the IT industry, I felt a strong need for counseling and obtained a counselor qualification.

After obtaining the qualification, I utilized it to conduct many career consultations for my own company's employees. However, I gradually began to feel that I wanted to face employees of various companies as an independent third party rather than as someone inside the organization. I felt that from the position of a company's HR representative or internal counselor, some people might hesitate to speak their true feelings due to concerns about their performance evaluations or psychological reservations. With the wish to "create a world where IT engineers can continue to work energetically while maintaining their mental health," I established Verite Works Co., Ltd. in 2014, which conducts IT system development and counseling business.

I currently have connections with overseas counselors through events such as the annual conference of the Asia Pacific Career Development Association, where I serve as a director. However, I still feel that counseling culture has not permeated Japan as much as it has in other countries. Noticing a social trend where consulting a third party is seen as "something weak people do," I continue my activities with the goal of "making it natural to receive counseling on a regular basis." Notably, out of a desire to lower the barrier to counseling, I have an initiative that uses episodes from characters like "Snoopy" from the American comic "PEANUTS"—which I have been a huge fan of since childhood and have researched independently for over 20 years—and this was featured on NHK's "Ohayo Nippon."

In January last year, I published a book titled "Creating a Company Where IT Engineers Don't Get Sick: A Mental Health Management Manual," which summarizes my practices inside and outside the company since its founding. I was happy to fulfill my dream of publishing, which I had held since my time majoring in Library and Information Science. Although I am still halfway there, I want to continue striving in my own small way so that a culture where "counseling is something to be taken regularly" and "regular counseling leads to high productivity" takes root in Japan.