And So I Became a Mental Supporter

After graduating from a vocational school for sports trainers and working as an exercise instructor in my 20s, I joined a company at age 30 and discovered a world completely different from what I had known before.
(Please see the article below for details.)

Then, in my late 30s, I got married and moved from my hometown of Tokyo to a regional area.

I didn't know anyone there besides my ex-husband, but I thought that once I had children, I would have more involvement with the community and things would be different.
However, the children I naively thought would come once I was married were lost to a missed miscarriage, and I was unable to conceive after that.

Because of that, I decided I would just go back to work, and after two years as a full-time housewife, I started job hunting.

I was in my 40s by then.

The area was known for its medical services, support for people with disabilities, hot springs, and tourism.

When I looked for jobs near my home on a Hello Work job posting, to my surprise, there was a hospital opening!

So, I took the exam, thinking I had nothing to lose.
I passed! 🙌
I was able to work as a contract employee at the 'hospital' I had always dreamed of! 🥹
It was a former national hospital with about 30 clinical departments, and the job was as an administrative assistant in the regional medical liaison office.

To be honest, I didn't really understand what a regional medical liaison office did... I just looked at the job description on the Hello Work posting and applied thinking it was just general office work... It only mentioned things like data entry, sending faxes, and handling phone calls...

But even though it was office work, it was an incredible job that required the ability to handle things flexibly. 💦

However, I had the cooperation of those around me, and since I had studied the human body as a sports trainer, I had a base of general knowledge, and I managed to get through my daily tasks.

The members of the liaison office included MSWs and PSWs (social workers), a discharge coordination nurse, and administrative assistants like me—five of us in total.

We played the role of connecting patients and hospital staff, including doctors, with local medical institutions, nursing facilities, and visiting nursing stations, and we worked busily every day.

My days were truly busy, with my head, body, and heart all working at full capacity... 💦

But, but, but!
I was a hospital staff member, something I had dreamed of!
The joy of being able to work as a member of the team was immeasurable, and the happiness and sense of fulfillment outweighed the busyness.

And the staff members were so kind and reliable; they were truly the best. ✨

And yet... 😭
Since administrative assistants are not specialized professionals, it was decided that one-year contracts could only be renewed twice.
After working for three years, I would have to take the entrance exam again, and there was no guarantee I would be assigned back to my original department...
I had come to love my work in the liaison office so much that I couldn't bring myself to do administrative work in another department.

Therefore, having also decided to give up on having children, I tearfully resigned from the hospital after three years and decided to look for a place where I could work as a full-time employee.

Then, I found a job opening at a tourist facility and changed jobs.

Through that connection, I ended up working closely with a company president.

This encounter would end up changing my life significantly.

Since I had previously been an exercise instructor, I had knowledge of daily health management, such as dieting and stretching.
Because of that, I would often give the president advice on a daily basis.

However, the president had no successor, and as he approached 60, he started saying, 'I think I'll sell the company, live leisurely on the money from the sale, and just do the work I want to do while flying around the world.'

Knowing the background that led him to say that, I decided to cooperate with the president, and secretly from the employees, the president and I began moving toward the sale.

However, as the talks progressed, the president began to have doubts.

He was the president of that company for several generations.

In the midst of negotiations with the first company that was almost decided, these thoughts and feelings caused the president to first lose sleep. Then, he couldn't organize his thoughts. He couldn't stay still and had to keep walking around. And then, dozens of LINE messages started arriving in the middle of the night.

I thought it would be better to have him see a medical institution, so I used the knowledge and connections I had cultivated in my previous job to introduce the president to a hospital I knew, and I accompanied him.

His condition was so bad that the doctor recommended hospitalization...

Even so, there was no one who could take the president's place, and the president himself hated for those around him to realize he was in poor health.

Therefore, I went to the hospital with him, keeping it a secret even from the president's family.

But that was as far as I could go...

I had been giving the president advice on daily health management, but I didn't know how to deal with a president whose heart was being pushed to its limit.

So, I thought that to support the president in his current state, I needed knowledge to provide mental support.

That was when I encountered NLP, which originated in the United States.
It is a practical psychology also called the 'instruction manual for the brain and heart.'
I was attracted to the fact that it was practical, so I studied it and obtained the qualification of 'NLP Association™ Certified NLP Master Practitioner.'

My path as a counselor began here.

However, it was a world I had jumped into with the sole desire to provide mental support to the president.

But there was something in common with the various jobs I had done until then.

So, even though it was a long way around,

this is what I can do,
the job I was looking for.

I felt that might be the case.

Since I have been the one making the choices, it may be natural that it is a path that suits me, but I deeply feel that my passion has been consistent.

If it hadn't been for that situation with the president, I probably wouldn't be working as a counselor.

And, after many years, the company was successfully sold, and the president's condition seems to have improved a little.
As for me, I also obtained an industrial counselor qualification, and now I am working as a counselor dedicated to a certain company and as a consultant for a compliance consultation desk.

When I was a child, I wanted to help sick people, so I supported their bodies as a health exercise instructor, and now, as an industrial counselor, I work to support their hearts through dialogue.

The form has changed, but the feeling of 'wanting to be of help to the person in front of me' has not changed since those days.

That is why I believe I am doing this job now.