Help-seeking preferences and help-seeking behaviors: An overview of studies

Counseling services are now considered to be professional activities in Japan. yet little attention has been paid to studies of help-seeking preferences and help-seeking behaviors. Research on these topics has been conducted over the last 20 years in the United States. In the present article, studies of help-seeking preferences and help-seeking behaviors in the United States are classified into 4 categories: 1) demographic variables, 2) network variables, 3) personality variables, and 4) one's own symptoms or the seriousness of the problems. The focus of further research should be 1) on consistency in the definition of help-seeking preferences and help-seeking behaviors, and 2) on intervention methods for increasing help-seeking preferences and on helping systems for those people who prefer not to get help from counseling services. It is expected that professional psychology services will develop in Japan through such research on help-seeking preferences and help-seeking behaviors.