Dr. Doug Berger is an American-trained U.S. board-certified psychiatrist in practice in the central Tokyo area of Japan. Fully bilingual in English and Japanese, Dr. Berger is currently the Director of the Meguro Counseling Center, a Tokyo-based mental health center that offers counseling and psychotherapy in Tokyo, including a wide range of counseling and psychotherapy services for both Japanese citizens as well as foreigners living and working abroad.

Dr. Doug Berger started his studies at the University of Connecticut, with a double major in in biology and pathobiology. After earning his undergraduate degree, Dr. Berger went on to obtain his Medical Degree (M.D.) from New York Medical College, where he received Alpha Omega Alpha honors. After medical school he completed a 4-year residency program in psychiatry at the New York Medical College’s Department of Psychiatry.

Before moving to Tokyo, Dr. Berger also completed a fellowship in Psychosomatic Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and thereafter Dr. Berger served as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Berger then moved to Japan to continue research and academic study at the University of Tokyo School of Medicine. He brought a number of Japanese psychiatrists together for a psychiatric research project centered at the Tokyo University Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, where he received Ph.D. in Medicine (Igaku Hakase).

Following his Ph.D., Dr. Berger began serving as director at the Meguro Counseling Center, which is located in the Shibuya-Ebisu, Meguro-ku, Shibuya-ku, Setagaya-ku, Minato-ku areas of central Tokyo. He is one of the few fully-bilingual medical professionals in Tokyo offering psychotherapy and psychological counseling services in both English and Japanese.

As a psychiatrist in Tokyo, Dr. Berger provides a wide range of therapeutic services including, individual mental health counseling, marriage counseling, couples counseling-particularly Japanese-Western couples, divorce counseling, life counseling, life coaching and career coaching, child and adolescent counseling, family therapy, and group psychotherapy.

In an effort to better educate the public and citizens of Japan about the complexities of mental health issues and treatments, Dr. Berger regularly contributes to the Tokyo Families Magazine. His expertise and experience allows him to explain and demystify common mental health issues and psychosocial topics such as: childhood and adolescence, relationship, personality, culture & emotional, isolation in Japan, depression, efficacy of psychotherapy, ADD/ADHD treatment in Tokyo, Japan, and others.

Publications by Dr. Douglas Berger, psychiatrist in Tokyo

Berger D: DOUBLE-BLINDING AND BIAS IN MEDICATION AND COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY TRIALS FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER, F1000Research 2016, 4:638 (doi: 10.12688/f1000research.6953.2). U.S. National Library of Medicine version.

Berger D: DOUBLE BLINDING REQUIREMENT FOR VALIDITY CLAIMS IN COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY INTERVENTION TRIALS FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. Analysis of Hollon S, et al., Effect of cognitive therapy with antidepressant medications vs antidepressants alone on the rate of recovery in major depressive disorder: a randomized clinical trial, F1000Research 2015, 4:639 (doi: 10.12688/f1000research.6954.1). U.S. National Library of Medicine version.

Articles by Douglas Berger, M.D., Ph.D. for Tokyo Families magazine.

• My child has ADD, what special learning needs will he have?
• I have had psychotherapy for many years with different therapists, why don't I get better?
• Stressed or Eating Disorder?
• When would you use psychological testing on children
• Ask the expert: Prolonged use of electronic devices

Click here to see a full list of articles.

For more on Dr. Doug Berger, read some of his articles here.