Azusa Yoshimatsu（Ph.D） is currently an Associate Professor at Meiji University in Japan, specialising in outdoor education and clinical psychology.

I hold a Master's degree in Physical Education, specialising in outdoor education. I then obtained a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology, after which I was licensed as a Clinical Psychologist and Certified Public Psychologist in Japan. After that, I earned a doctorate in coaching science with a focus on adventure camps for adolescents.

I have approximately 15 years of experience in therapeutic practices in outdoor settings. Initially, I worked with adolescents facing mental health challenges, such as school refusal and neurodiversity, through camping programs. More recently, I have been supporting single mothers and their children who have experienced trauma through camping programs.I also serve as a committee member of the Special Needs Camp Network, an organization that brings together practitioners and researchers in this field in Japan. Together with my colleagues, I translated and published the book "Outdoor Therapies".

My research focuses on topics such as the physicality of adolescents in adventure camps (i.e. the connection between mind and body), and the meaning of camping experiences for single mothers in parenting. I primarily use qualitative approaches.

-What drew you to this work?

When I was a master's student, my advisor was running a camp for adolescents. I participated as a staff member and encountered children who changed over the course of the 18-day camp. That was what inspired me to start this job.

-Why would you encourage others in your region to also do this work?

Despite the many attractive practices being implemented in Japan, they are isolated and lack connections with one another. As a result, social awareness of this field is not very high. I believe that creating a network would be a step forward for this field in Japan.

yoshimatsu@meiji.ac.jp