Counseling Student REACTS to Dr. Maruki & Yusuke Session (Persona 5 Royal)

[@SigmaSyndicate]

It's funny how underrated Yusuke's intelligence really is. Futaba and Makoto are supposed to be the smart ones of the group, but Yusuke really cuts to heart of the matter and observes things that the others miss.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I agree, I feel like people get so caught up thinking he's this funny, eccentric artist-type that it goes unnoticed that he's probably the most perceptive member of the group barring Joker (because he's well... Joker. lol)

[@mct_3551]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT I feel like people forget and focus on how he's a bit socially inept instead

[@aniwasza64]

Actually most of the time in group chat in the game, Yusuke's assessment of how public reacted positively and negatively on phantom thieves is always on point. The man might be wonderfully eccentric but his perceptions of people are really insightful sometimes.God i loved persona 5

[@JoaderR]

Yusuke is pretty much the one in the group with common sense.

[@thepinapple8829]

@@JoaderR Maybe not common sense, dude can't manage money to save his own life, i think it's just a side effect from his passion. Artists draw based on their perception of life after all.

[@LunaDeaminac]

Maruki is someone so wrapped up in his own pain that he can’t understand the concept of people moving on from theirs. His Palace is full of hints to that and his Will Seeds are called ‘Sorrow’. He just can’t move on. In his Actualised world, everyone’s been taken back in a way: Joker’s not a criminal; Ryuji’s on the track team; Shiho’s moving back to Shujin and Ann’s inseparable from her; Morgana’s convinced he’s human; Yusuke’s Madarame’s pupil; Makoto is Sae’s dutiful sister; Futaba’s life is controlled by being Wakaba’s daughter; Haru is Okumura’s obedient daughter; and Akechi is alive and his sins have been erased. Everyone but him because he considers heartbreak to be a ‘necessary pain’. He talks to Joker because he finds him being able to deal with the complete upheaval his life went through after his arrest to be a unique and unusual trait, rather than being something anyone could do with sufficient time and support (admittedly Joker doing it entirely from accepting his Shadow and getting Arsene is unique but Maruki doesn’t know how it happened, only that he did it.)

[@thomasplummer8103]

I'd say the biggest issue with Maruki, both as a character and as a councilor, is that he doesn't seem to believe that growth is possible, especially from pain. Everything about him is about avoiding risk of pain, avoiding going out of your comfort zone, etc.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I agree with you fully and completely. He isn't able to see past his own life experiences and so he definitely projects them onto everyone that he sees and anyone who deviates from this mindset he perceives to be an idiosyncrasy.It's funny that he claims that others get so stuck in their own mindsets to Yusuke when he's the most stuck of all.

[@DanGalarzaCyber]

Okay, so a generic Lotus Eater story. Gotcha.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Indie Plex To be fair, he was already working as a counselor at that point and was already in talks with the school about coming on before he knew about Joker and company. That was a happy accident for him.

[@LunaDeaminac]

Indie Plex No, he saw them leave after Ann awakened. You see him in the background of the scene and he specifically mentioned the ‘Takamaki looked exhausted’ when he comes clean about knowing. While he did make connection to them, Kamoshida’s change of heart and cognitive psience he doesn’t have any reason to pick Joker over Ann or Ryuji at that point based on the Phantom Thief angle (in fact Ann would have been the more logical choice based on what he saw), that decision was based off of the way Joker acted and reacted during the counselling session.

[@inukyubi9566]

I think Maruki's biggest motivator is that he finds the world "unfair" He admits that people can get stronger from moving on from their pain, but knows there are too many people without the strenght to do it, making it unfair for these people. And once he starts his actualization, he begins to affect these strong people too, because allowing them to suffer just because they can deal with it better would be unfair too.

[@seyithanyeniceri2940]

A little late but great observation

[@AlphaDormante]

They're all good in their own way, but I think Yusuke's session is possibly the best written. For one, it's the first time we see Maruki picking the brain of someone he didn't have any info on - he was able to cleanly wheedle information out of Ann, Ryuji, and Makoto because he read their files and already kind of knew what buttons to push to get the information he wanted. He was caught off-guard by Yusuke, didn't know anything about him, and that reflects in how much more direct he had to be with his questions to discover what Yusuke's ideal life was. On another angle, while the others went (willingly or not) to benefit normally from the counseling process, Yusuke's interest was purely academic, more specifically in the actual process of counseling itself... which just so happens to be the precise issue that Maruki has. And since Maruki answers honestly, it's a real first look for the player at his philosophy from an objective standpoint. I think these factors fuse really well to push even the uninitiated player to think critically about what's being said, by removing Maruki's usual advantage over his client and seeing his words outside of a professional setting. My boi Yusuke, uncovering the hearts of men indeed :)

[@beetlejumps3283]

This Maruki counseling series is so good

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

That means a lot! Thank you. :)

[@precious_muse]

I kinda think of Dr. Maruki as a friend, not a doctor. He leans a little too hard into that personal level, I think, likes when he talks to Joker about getting scratched by a cat he was trying to rescue. But that’s one of the things making him the big bad in the final semester so hard. He’s very likable and not as overtly evil as the other palace leaders (except for Futaba of course).

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yes! I agree 100%, like even in the third semester I just couldn't bring myself to dislike him because he really is trying to come from a good place. He just does it very poorly. This is one of the only antagonists that actually made me feel some level of dissonance because while I know he's objectively wrong, I still just want the best for him because he's still so hurt by everything he's had to endure throughout his life.

[@Mojo1356]

ThoughtBubble yeah. Like- I know I have to put an end to his dreams, but between everything he has done for the party- especially Sumire (immoral or not, he still did help Sumire get another chance at life in a sense.), and the fact that he already lost his life dream once, it still hurts to make Maruki lose his dreams again (and this time for good).

[@KennyKakes1]

Wow, Yusuke pretty much saw straight through him in this scene. I never noticed this my playthrough (because, obviously, I didn't know what was going to happen 3rd semester) but man, Yusuke has his moments where his intelligence and wisdom really shines through.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I love it when Yusuke really gets the chance to shine. I think too often people overlook how genuinely smart he is because he the "eccentric art guy."

[@riskyworks]

⁠@@ThoughtBubbleYTI mean, Yusuke can be quite... silly at times (I mean, I recall that he had an ALLOWANCE in Strikers due to him being awful at managing his money), but he is also very smart. Honestly, Yusuke is just great.

[@windalchemist001]

Yusake is a dork but he has a habit of seeing things the others don’t. It’s a bit funny and I truly love these because when I was younger I wanted to become someone who helps people, and thought I do t know if I’ll ever do it at this current rate but it’s still something I like seeing

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I'm really glad you enjoy them! And there are a lot of different ways to to help others and I'm sure you've already helped loads of people in ways that you don't even know. So if that's something that you really want to put effort into I'm sure you can, you just need to find a way of doing it that works for you. :)

[@abiwonkenabi7027]

Like ThoughtBubble said, you can help people in many ways! Just being a good friend can do wonders for someone and that can mean many different things to different friends. You just do what works for you. One of my oldest friends doesn't live close to me anymore, but she still checks up on me with letters all the time. Sometimes I have pretty downer days and its nice to see someone cares enough to check up on me. I have another friend that I know I can text pretty much any time to talk about anime, and she will always be game, which is a really nice feeling. It can be as simple as that for some people.

[@uberkirbeeh7954]

It's pretty ironic how Maruki's boss fight song talks about giving up on your dreams and settle down on a life he has made for everyone, which is a dream come true life for everyone, expect for himself and for Ren and Akechi. Which is what he has done to himself. He gave up on his dreams in order to make his new warped dream and everyone else's reality. And then you take his dream away from him, so that he can realize a more healthier life for himself and move on. Maruki's whole story arc reminds me of the times I had to be a parent to my own mother, because she was unable to be a parent to me because of her own issues. It was pretty damaging and toxic. I kinda hate Maruki because it reminds me of that phase in my life and because how wrong he is and how wrong my own situation was.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I think that's totally fair. And I'm sorry you had to deal with that and appreciate you sharing it. I think that Maruki perfectly illustrates how someone who is meant to help can do more harm than good, and I can only hope that his character is able to move on and create a healthier life for himself.

[@abiwonkenabi7027]

I liked Yusuke before, but I liked him even more after this session considering he already dismantled Maruki's way of thinking before it even goes into action. I'm excited to see Haru and even more so to see analysis on Joker's relationship with Maruki. Joker feels like he'd make a pretty decent counselor considering how he typically helps his Confidants arrive to conclusions on their own, and it will be neat to see that contrast with Maruki's way of "counseling". Joker is a pretty interesting person for being a silent protagonist.

[@connorcampbell-bisson8721]

So, yeah this one and an interesting one from the purely by virtue of it not actually being a counselling session and more... Yusuke integrating him. Like everything with Yusuke, this ultimately related back to art, as the theme of the human "heart" is something of a go-to motif for him and he is often searching for other ways to explore or express this theme (Notably, There are several moments in this Confidant route where circumstances force him to re-evaluate what he thinks he knows about it, the boat scene and the church scene being prime examples.) and in this instance is seeking something of a more clinical understanding of the concept. Thus, he's willing to question and assess what exactly Maruki's doing because THAT'S the information he's seeking. Before I delve into anything specific in how Maruki operates in THIS scene, I'd like to point out that Yusuke's interest was specifically piqued by Maruki's ability to easily converse with the otherwise highly withdrawn Futaba but looking at the scene where it happened it looks more like he managed it purely by luck. Futaba shows no difficulty in communicating with people who are knowledgable in a subject matter she is interested in, with the best example that comes to mind being an optional hangout event where she encounters the VERY intimating Iwai and is able to engage in a quite enthusiastic conversation about model guns when she becomes aware that that is his business. Likewise, Futaba acts like her normal self when Maruki visits Le Blanc and only opens up when she notices his Cognitive Psience book. Anyhow, with regards to this "Session", as applicable the term may or may not be, one of the key differences is that, unlike with Ann, Ryuji and Makoto, Maruki has no context or outside information about Yusuke because, well, Yusuke is a completely out-of-context subject. So, because of this, he doesn't even have the means to fall into his usual failing of bringing up an event or situation he wants to talk about almost out of nowhere. With this said, this whole thing gives us a direct window of Maruki's own viewpoint regarding how/what he does, thanks to Yusuke's enquiries. Namely, the classic "Doesn't see what he's doing as wrong" mentality, which is most likely why he'll continue making the same mistakes because he doesn't SEE them as mistakes. Treating this as a "Session", I'm not sure what the actual ethics are of attempting to prolong it after the subject voices a desire to leave but I do think that this could be very damaging to the trust that the session has built up and make the subject less willing to open up in future. So, Maruki's use of the miracle question seems to be probing to figure out how he can "help" someone purely on a self-cognitive level and the ability to outright "fix" reality is just a happy accident, so I imagine that had more sessions gone on he would have attempted to use his "Cognitive Overlay" ability (Yes, I'm still calling it that) once he determines how to implement it seeing as whatever he does still has to be compatible with reality as-is (Sumire thinking she's Katsumi, for instance, only has the failing in that Sumire ISN'T Katsumi and doesn't require the addition or removal of any other person). Amusingly, in regards to the miracle question, in Yusuke's 3rd tier persona awakening, Yusuke comes to realise that he does actually have the teacher he was looking for in the form of Joker, who obviously cannot teach him any of the technical aspects of art but at that point has already massively broadened his perceptions (including his perception that his teacher should be a member of the art world.)

[@fatalangel8534]

I want Yusuke to be my counselor

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

What an interesting experience that would be.

[@somethingext]

Interesting indeed

[@nicoffee777]

Very well. I will go along with this

[@munem939]

I always thought that Yusuke always had clear consent from both Ann and Ryuji to chat to Maruki, based on their texts. Yusuke always mentions that he wants to go see him and Ann even encourages him to go see Maruki, over the texts log. However, Maruki *didn't* know that, as Yusuke never said his relationship with them nor about their consent over texts, so Maruki's blunder is still perfectly valid

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yes! And in addition to that, verbal consent isn't enough. You need written and well documented consent to disclose a counseling relationship, not only for the client's sake but to cover your own behind in case the client changes their mind after you've already discussed the confidential information because undocumented verbal consent would not hold up in any court case because then it turns into a he said- she said situation. So, yeah. Maruki definitely goofed.

[@SpiritKitten]

I was so fascinated the most about the room inside Maruki’s palace that obviously inspired by Eden with statues of Rumi holding apples! Proves to me that his heart has still not given up on her! And he possibly may be able to start over with her.

[@donb7519]

well if he lost all actualization power then rumi is back to her depressed state so she does need help

[@getagamingjob417]

What I really really appreciate in general is how my generation (and younger generations, seeing how I'm getting old ._. ) have grown up, established themselves and even mastered various fields that they can offer different insights into the games and gaming we've all loved since we were young and help show the nuances that games can offer and themselves have grown into. It is so gratifying to me to see how all these different people can take in something meaningful to them and their field from games and in turn share their knowledge and expertise, which allows the rest of us to start appreciate those aspects as well

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yeah definitely! I think that applying everything I've learned from my schooling is not only a fun way to pass the time but also for me to continue using and learning the info in new and rich ways so that I can really retain it and Persona is the perfect franchise to look at for me. :)

[@JinwooYoon1217]

I'm so glad you're making these videos! Learning about the inherent flaws in Maruki's counseling really helps add more complexity to the overall narrative. Thank you so much, looking forward to the Haru video!

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy them! :) They're really fun to make and it's so great to learn just how nuanced Maruki's writing really is.

[@realDarkPeterson]

SPOILERS AHEAD Maruki's completely infallable plan: Step 1: Manipulate high school students. Step 2: Become God Step 3: ?????? Step 4: Actualization Step 5: Have said plan ruined by some dude with a stupid outfit

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

How could it have gone wrong?!

[@zdude0127]

This a "Gru sits on toilet moment."

[@B_A-tr]

Wasnt he already god before he manipulated high schoolers

[@realDarkPeterson]

@@B_A-tr No. He could only use his Persona to limited degrees, and he certainly didn't rule the cognitive world.

[@kyotow7388]

@@B_A-tr he became god once the false god died or like a minute or so later

[@UditSingh]

Nice to see Atlus was foreshadowing Maruki's flaws through Yusuke's observation. I'll admit i didn't pick up on it in my playthrough.

[@Zakharon]

I feel it would be interesting for you to go over the "bad" ending that you get if you take Maruki's deal or maybe go over Akechi's personality in the 3rd semester compared to the rest of the game and his reaction to learning what happened to him in 3rd semester.

[@wJermell0]

I think Maruki is one of my favorite characters in P5R but you got it right on the money. He's not a counselor, he's a researcher. That's why even though he's getting better at the techniques of counselling he can never be a good counselor because his idea of what that is is fundamentally wrong. I think part of why he's one of my favorites is because he's basically a more maladjusted me, what he does with his reality warping is just a more extreme and closeminded version of what I'd do if I just woke up as god one day.

[@sam7559]

1:25 if I remember my Japanese correctly most people don't call people by their given names (Ryuji) but instead their family name (Sakamoto). It looked like Maruki was just confirming who Yusake was talking about since he doesn't think of them as Ryuji and Ann but as Sakamoto and Takamaki. Even saying though at he knows of them wouldn't likely be seen as yeah they go to counseling given at we see him act as a teacher for Ann and Joker's class and likely Ryuji's too.

[@もちの花]

I think it's interesting how much of Maruki's nature is shown in this specific "senssion". I hadn't noticed before, but I agree with your points. As always thanks for the amazing content. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the next Fruits Basket episode too, trust me it's very good.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Of course! I love making it, so I'm glad you enjoy! :) And I just saw the preview images and I'm SO excited for the return of Kakeru!

[@もちの花]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT trust me, you are going to love Kakeru

[@bulbasour2476]

Please never stop this series haha

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Well I definitely plan on looking a fair bit more into the good Doctor but he only has so many sessions so we'll see what happens after that! :)

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Spoiler stuff My thoughts are Maruki tries to be a good counselor but is hindered by an issue that gives him a huge ulterior motive: his own unresolved grief. He obviously mourns what happened with his former gf intensely, but is refusing to admit it. You can even see this is the case when Maruki is with his peer age friend. There is definitely things the friend is leaving unsaid, maybe feeling it isn't his place to say them. But to get back to topic that grief is something he seemingly suppresses from his consciousness and may be why he avoids negative emotions. He is too empathetic to not go through that with other people. Which may breach the wall he has placed around that grief. So he tries to steer the conversation around such issues. This makes all his interactions manipulative as he doesn't want to wade into anything that could cause him to have to deal with that pent up emotion. Making up justifications to his actions so he doesn't have to see he is using people for his benefit. That is, using them so he can keep avoiding that raw, festering emotional wound he has. I argue it even progresses to the point he even becomes a sadistic bastard during the third semester. The way he treated Sumire when she was still thinking she was Kasumi was horrifying. That wasn't him gently helping her to acknowledge the truth. It was more akin to mind raping her with her own grief, guilt and pain over her sister's death. Then used her reaction to this intense psychic assault as a justification why he was right. That dealing with such grief is cruel and we should all not have to feel such ever. Just avoid it forever and ever...just like him. He wants to do good, but with that ragged wound he has on his heart...he can't do anything that is actually productive and in fact ends up dragging anyone who needs his support down with him.

[@samueld7856]

This video is another great one I originally my first play through was thinking the writers did a great job of making an actual clinical mental health counselor now I am thinking wow they did a great job at making a bad clinical mental health counselor and it fits into the story well as we see his “methods” of guiding clients to his ideals and even though unlike a character like shido who doesn’t care about people he rules over Maruki wants to do good for people but HIS WAY. Good job writers and good job thought bubble for seeing this.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Thank you so much! And I can't express enough how much I love Maruki as a character. He's written so perfectly to be someone who appears to be pretty good at his job because intentions are so pure until you start peeling away the layers which I think is so cool.

[@Nash_determined]

It didn't seem look much like a breach. He just said their last names because he wasn't sure who he was talking about. But I guess he should have kept that in his head

[@thomasplummer8103]

I feel like it is a human mistake to make, but one that a councilor should work to train themselves out of making. He could have handled it differently fairly easy. If he had followed it up by something along the lines of, "I can't really confirm or deny I have seen them as a councilor" I would think it would be better, as it would imply at least that he was trying to identify them from the rest of the students of the school. If anything, it really shows that Maruki's mind isn't in the space of being a Counselor. He is less interested in rules or protecting identities than in "helping" people.

[@Nash_determined]

@@thomasplummer8103 But should a counselor's mind always be in the space of a Counselor? People act differently depending on where they are; a manager doesn't always have to act like a manager outside work, in fact it feels more healthy that he shouldn't. This man was at a vending machine and Yusuke cornered him with questions lol Speaking of...how should a counselor handle a situation where a client sees him outside and comes up to say hello? Is he in the counselor mindset now in the middle of grocery shopping? XD

[@BashfulRosesASMR]

When I went to two different counselors, both told me that due to confidentially they were not permitted to talk about me in any way. They couldn’t let anyone know that they knew me. If they met someone who knew me in the grocery store, at an event, or anywhere really, they couldn’t say my name or say they had talked to me. Not sure if that’s the case everywhere but that’s how it was for me!

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I mean, while it's true counselor's won't be actively counseling everywhere they do have ethical obligations that must stay consistent everywhere they go. So often counselors will set very clear boundaries with clients, just like Bashful Roses said, where they will not interact with clients outside of the therapeutic relationship. It's nothing against the client but actively engaging in public could be an inadvertent breach of confidentiality. And breaches of confidentiality could lead to HEAVY fines. So just the simple act of saying their surnames while Yusuke was asking about Ann and Ryuji confirms that he has met with them, which is a complete breach because Yusuke is not allowed to be privy to that information and there is not ethical rationale for revealing this to him. If a client did come up in public anyways and cornered the counselor they would likely be cordial and friendly but would also ensure that the conversation was little more than an exchange of greetings before ending it. I would even argue that it's considerably more healthy to not acknowledge or talk about clients outside of counseling sessions because now you have a distinct separation between work and life which is a SUPER important part of self-care. So while you do have to be conscious not to breach confidentiality, it's typically so ingrained in most counselors that it's more like second nature! :)

[@UditSingh]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT suppose we could chalk that one up to him being more inexperienced in counselling? I main, it's weird in Japan for someone to use people on first name basis unless they're really close, that and Yusuke did jump on him so he could just be caught off guard.

[@AdumbroDeus]

I love how you say "at least he knows that's not allowed" when Yusuke asks to sit in. "He's a terrible counselor in absolutely every way except this one thing that he does right!" Poor poor awful counselor Maruki.

[@ProsperousKingFlorent]

I think an interesting thing to note is that Maruki didn't even WANT to be a counselor but he wanted to be a researcher and IS one, but life issues forced him onto a different path.

[@AlexKlindt]

Maruki is someone who has been largely unable to move past his own trauma (as evidenced by the entire third semester and foreshadowed in the scene where he runs into a college friend) so he has come to the conclusion that he should dedicate himself to moving others past theirs. Essentially Maruki has resigned himself to his own sorrow, after repeatedly being dealt a bad hand, so to speak. I think we can safely say that at the very least, Maruki has been emotionally displaced (if not worse) since the incident with Rumi and having his life's work defunded has led him to a place where his only real desire is the pursuit of a singular goal: obliterating sadness. Not his mind you, but everyone else's. Basically, Maruki is not well, emotionally or mentally, despite him being able to function as a productive member of society. Completing his contract with a cosmic entity and taking the throne of the god of control, enables him to pursue his goal far beyond what he was capable as a mere doctor with a special power. He infests the human subconscious to further his goal and relentlessly tightens his grip on the world. Despite having augmented physiology in the fused metaverse as a persona user, I feel that he's a mentally ill man who's burning the candle at both ends, so to speak. Despite all this, I actually relate more to Maruki than anyone else in the cast, and I consider his bad end the only significant moral dilemma in the game. Basically, I think he's great.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I completely agree, all of his actions are linked to his past and his trauma's 100% and struggles (I don't talk about his own psychology much on this because I have it planned for a future video). He's by far my favorite character because of this but the issue is that in trying to remove sadness, he doesn't try to help others move past their trauma's at all. He instead invalidates their growth and their immense strength to move past it themselves in favor of what he thinks is right. In reality he likely did far more harm than good to the mental state of these characters in the long run, or at least had the potential to. While he definitely has the best of intentions and his heart is in the right place, like you alluded to, his perceptions of the world have become so distorted that he can't see past his own ideations of forcibly "fixing" the world against its will. While on the surface it seems positive in reality it's kind of terrifying, which is why I think he's one of the most well-written characters in the game and one of the best antagonists ever.

[@runeyap9812]

3 minutes in and we see Maruki blunder. Keep up the good work haha

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Gotta love the guy. Breaching ethical codes and getting snacks on the daily. lol

[@ramenking3574]

I know Maruki isn't really accurate to how a counselor should act but the interactions with him in the game have made me want to enter counseling and perhaps someday become a counselor

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I think that's really awesome and if he motivated you to move towards this field than he did something right! We could always use more good counselors in the world. :) His heart is definitely in the right place, but he just doesn't have the right mindset to be truly effective. As counselors we need to check our egos at the door and make sure that we are empowering the clients in an ethical way and not trying to "fix" them because honestly, that could do a lot more harm than good.

[@Lucas17031]

On the bright side, at least Maruki's theme during counciling is chill as heck

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I honestly love his theme so much and part of me wants to make these videos just to have an excuse to use it more. Lol

[@Iavasechui]

Absolutely love him as a character but OMG his counselling sets off warning bells XD

[@TheRealEasyA]

Hey after a breakdown of all of Maruki's counseling sessions, do you think you could do a breakdown of all the tapes found in Maruki's palace as well? (The ones that show him first finding out and awakening to his power and meeting Sumire and everything.) I think it would be interesting to have those broken down along with Maruki's own state of mind from a counseling student's perspective, too.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I definitely intend to do a deep dive on Maruki himself to some degree! :)

[@truej3763]

Yusuke is just smarter than Maruki lol and I think Maruki is an interesting character he is just a horrible horrible counsellor

[@EpicNerdsWithCameras]

I really love the insight these counseling sessions give into Maruki's character, precisely because of this. He doesn't want to help people grow on their own, he just wants to find out what they need--or at least, what he thinks they need--and "fix" their problems for them. It's a very intriguing motivation, and helps you to understand the buildup to the third semester even better.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I couldn't have said it better myself! :)

[@marche800]

To be fair to Maruki he didn't explicitly say that he counsiled Ryuji and Ann he just let it slip that he knows them. Maruki is the school counselor but he also teacher from time to time and both Ann and Ryuji are misfits within the school. It's safe to say he would know their names regardless of if they ever visited him, so while he did slip up I don't think that's a breach of confidentiality specifically.

[@Renan290692]

I don't think there was a breach in confidentiality in this clip at all. Yusuke aproches Maruki, telling that he heard about him by Ann and Ryuji, and the only thing Maruki says, is "oh, that Ann and That Ryuji?". He's only confirming where Yusuke got information about him. He never discloses that they had couseling sessions with him, or the content of those sessions (altough is common knowlege that Shujin Students are required to take couseling sessions with Maruki).

[@RealRoboKnight]

Honestly, I think that Maruki is a great character, him as a "villain" was, in my opinion, great, I understand his actualization or whatever he wants, but it's the wrong way and I think that's great

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yes!!! I think they do such an amazing job at making a character who you can completely see where they’re coming from and on the surface it even looks good, but when you start thinking about it that’s when the twisted nature begins appearing. The addition of the 3rd semester put P5R in my 3 games of all time.

[@kyotow7388]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT what are your other two favorite games?

[@SynicalTC]

These videos are very interesting to me because I want to major in psychology and I’m a fan of SMT and Persona

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Psychology is such a great major and it leads to a lot of really great opportunities (I'm a bit biased though because I majored in psych)! Also, I'm glad you enjoy these videos! :)

[@Japaneseanimeguy]

There's a broad overview of Jung concepts available within p4g. It's in one of those classroom things available from the main menu.

[@a.z.pantera5577]

This series where you not only examine one of my favorite games and characters and making me love it even more, but also giving some behind the curtain details about counseling and being a counselor is really fascinating and entertaining. And to think this channel just popped up on my KZbin recommends one day. Kudos, my friend. I hope you'll continue to do good work. PS: I've actually been considering therapy/counseling for a bit recently, so this extra bit of insight is also reassuring in a sense.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I'm really glad you enjoy these videos, it really means a lot. :) And I'm glad these videos can reassure you and if you do decide to opt in to see someone I hope they're wonderful, and if you don't quite mesh with them then know that's super okay and normal to "shop around" for a counselor you really work well with. :)

[@wackofiasco1]

I love your channel! I am currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Psychology and was looking to get into mental health counseling as well as a concentration so these videos are very interesting

[@foreignerhill]

Oh man I hope you do a video on yusuke. I'm loving the series of videos on P5R. Keep it up man!

[@PiedraDeIjada]

Commenting again, a bit as a memo to myself. I can watch this soon! Finally got to the new part, saw the ending when taking Marukis deal.

[@thejonbrownshow8470]

I really wish they had him "counsel a random boy and girl at shujin, because he's so popular, and for the older seniors at the school, I'm surprised all the students unanimously love him outside of ryuji lol Along with akechi's fake nice persona, I feel like he'd show his true disapproval of Maruki before his death atleast

[@Little_Eris]

Oh man I sure do enjoy the Josuke and Jotaro counseling session.

[@rawsome1234]

I could just entirely be missing the point, but at 3:00 it seems like Maruki is more clarifying who they are talking about, not even that he's counseling them. In that moment he hasn't mentioned them outside of knowing who they are, and considering that he works at the school it's not really implying he had a counseling session with them.

[@niciTheOnly1]

I love your videos. They are very informative and interesting. I also hope that there will be a video about Goro Akechi, similiar to your KaSumi Video :)

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Thank you so much! :) Also, I have a hint for the character case study (so like the Kasumi video) I'm working on right now on my latest community post and you might be interested in checking that out.

[@jicookithepotato8702]

I'm telling you, never sell Yusuke kitagawa short, he's alot more than just a weirdo artist

[@andycic.544]

These vids need more views they're so good

[@hope_13]

Great videos. You've gained a new subscriber today

[@Redundoo]

I hope you end up doing a Kasumi counseling session video too.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

It's definitely in the plans because that's a juicy one (I have A LOT to say about it too). lol

[@ridleyroid9060]

@2:45 I mean, Yusuke does out right mention that Ryuji and Ann asked him to go, and this is not a counseling session so I don't see a problem. Not like the phantom Ts dont take their fair share of chances to gush at how gosh darn cool Maruki is. In this context, i dont see a problem, besides Maruki knows theyre Phantom Ts and the Phantom Ts all know maruki so I see no issue.

[@xoderota]

I love Yusuke so much. I didn't like him at first but he's great

[@VainerCactus0]

3:11 Maruki did not say he had counselled them, just indicated that he knew their names. Considering he is working at their high school, this is not too revealing. From what Yusuke says seconds ago, Yusuke clearly knows that Maruki know Ann and Ryuji, so this should not be a problem.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Unfortunately regardless of context it’s still a breach.

[@VainerCactus0]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT Fair enough, the rules are that strict for a good reason. If you decide to make some videos on persona 3, can I recommend looking at Akinari Kamiki, the Sun Arcana? His social link has a few extra steps to get started, but worth it in my opinion.

[@Richyrion]

Oh boy! I am viewer number 22!

[@TheGreatBackUpVIDEOS]

2:00 To be fair, Yusuke already said who it was. It's more like he is repeating what Yusuke said more than anything. Besides, it's not like he won't know the names of non-patients in the school. (Yusuke didn't ask about that I don't believe) He goes to the school, he could have just ran into one of them.

[@musoumiko4730]

TBH Maruki's plan was foolproof. The only mistake he made was becoming god in an SMT game with an active Messiah figure. Rookie mistake, really. In actuality I really *really* like Maruki as a character. Both because he's integrated about as seamlessly as one could hope for into a game with an already established plot and arc, and also because his entire ordeal in the third semester honestly feels like a repressed cry for help towards Joker. My theory on this is only further backed up by the fact he continued to allow the thieves to do what they wanted, the fact he explicitly tells Joker that "you're free to change my heart if you disagree" in their rank 10, and what Shibusawa tells Joker. "It's rare for him to open up to anyone this much. Look after him for me." Plus Jose teasing that "humans vent their feelings with their fists." and the fact that Maruki, while an idealist, isn't an idiot. He should absolutely know what him *having a palace* implies about himself. But (and this is speaking from a bit of personal experience) it's extremely difficult to see how to pull yourself out of depression and/or grief and to overcome your mistakes. You need a support network, or at least someone willing to listen and help you sort things out (which... Is why counseling exists,). His shout of frustration at the very very end is so *visceral*, as both his palace and all his pent up feelings collapse around him. It's really just... Incredible. Then its got that shot of him reaching up mirroring when Joker reaches up during the start of Qliphoth world. Also the fact that in the bad "good" ending, it's easy to see Maruki bottling up that grief, as Joker looks at him briefly in confusion during the graduation picture and he just walks away waving his hat. It has such a depressing and melancholic feel to it, since he's accepted his loneliness and eternal pain in exchange for everyone else's sake. He doesn't even "exist" as Maruki Takuto to any of them by that point, just a random passerby. Almost more chilling of a character death than Sumire wearing the pink leotard in the credits scroll. I've already ended up saying more than I meant to and honestly I could probably go on forever analyzing how much the third semester did right from a narrative standpoint. Final aside: I really like the parallel between him and Rumi, and Joker and Violet. Even if you don't go the romance route, you can see the dichotomy of how each of them helped (or "helped" in Maruki/Rumi's case) their companion move on. They even have similar hair colors and designs! It feels like an extremely intentional design choice.

[@dylanthomas385]

Do all the fantom theives and oalase owners

[@Iris_1217]

I've really enjoyed this whole series. Maruki is kind of a poor, misguided bean, so it's nice to hear you like him as a character even if you find his methods questionable at best. If you're interested in continuing this thread of looking at counseling and counselors as portrayed in media, could I recommend taking a look at the Hey Arnold! episode "Helga on the Couch"? It's considered to be the best episode of the series, so I'd be interested to see someone with your background's take on it, especially the ways in which the counselor builds rapport with Helga and the kind of questions she asks.

[@amirulnizam9416]

about the client confidentiality part, i think you misread the situation, yusuke clearly mention ryuji and ann by first name and maruki react by analysing who is ryuji and ann and remember them by their last name. nothing of sort saying that ryuji and ann are his client.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yusuke approached him for what could be inferred as wanting to know about counseling. He shouldn't have even mentioned their last names or acknowledged any connection to them without their willing consent and therefore it's a breach. He doesn't need to explicitly say "they are my clients" for it to be a breach as he shouldn't even acknowledge that there's a connection there to someone he doesn't know.

[@amirulnizam9416]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT yusuke : ever since ryuji and ann spoke of you....... maruki : ryu... oh you mean sakamoto and takamaki... this is a school setting and not a private clinic, maruki could be referred as the school counsellor that ann and ryuji talk about to yusuke, and school staff usually personally know a lot of their student especially in asia wether the staff/teacher directly deal with them or not. it is shown in the game maruki also teaches in class. so their connection is not just counsellors - client. for example i know my school counsellor yet never have a session with him, i introduce him to my other friend and come to him mentioning my name, of course the counsellor would try think of which person my friend is speaking of. from your POV who already know ryuji and ann attend his session, you may think it's a breach, but for someone who knows nothing, the mention of ryuji and ann by maruki can only be interpreted with staff-student relationship.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

@@amirulnizam9416 But the thing is that he's not a school counselor, he's a mental health counselor who works in a school. There's a distinct difference. Those are two completely occupations and therefore have two completely different code of ethics and functions in general. Many schools have mental health counselors who come in during crisis periods, or if they have enough money who work with their student body specifically, similar to Maruki so he as the mental health counselor is bound to the same code of ethics that he would be in a private practice. A school counselor however serves an entirely different function and you're definitely correct that they don't need to maintain confidentiality like a mental health counselor would. So while I can see where the confusion comes from, and while the titles of these two positions may appear similar functionally, the fact remains that they are incredibly different.

[@amirulnizam9416]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT school counseller vs mental health counsellor aside, the issue here still you misread the situation. it's still in school setting weather her's a school or mental health counsellor, and the game shows he teaches in class as well, so the relationship between maruki with ryuji/ann are not just counsellor-client, him mentioning their name in this setting is no way it indicates that it's a breach because they know each other outside of the session. now if the situation where (for example) yusuke introduce maruki to (let say) hifumi, and maruki mention the name yusuke, this would really imply a confidentiality breach as yusuke is not a student in shuujin and therefore have no relationship with maruki.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

@@amirulnizam9416 Well, let's not even get into the ethics of the school having him teaching classes, and him agreeing to it, while in this role because that's an entirely different unethical can of worms called dual relationships which also isn't groovy. lol Suffice to say that I firmly disagree and stand by my assessment of the situation based on both my education and professional experience up to this point. Whether you agree or not is up to you.

[@sarahlivingston]

Confidentiality is an issue only because not all the Phantom Thieves go to the same school and the counseling plotline was added later. They had to fit it in somehow.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

That’s true but he could have easily maintained confidentiality by simply not acknowledging that he knows Ann and Ryuji and the scene could have played out the exact same!

[@_soso.k4362]

After a fee videos I feel like Maruki could have been a good counselor. If he could let go of the what he thinks is best for someone and wanting to erase all the pain. If he could grow from that and make the people turn their pain into power, as well as let them learn things from themselves he would be good. He’s in my opinion a verg kind, caring and calm person what I think are good traits for a counselor. Tho he shows his kindness really wrong. I personally only saw your videos so maybe i missed a lot😅

[@Mysticgamer]

I pretty sure Maruki isnt a real counselor. Pretty sure he just walked into the school to apply for the position so he can talk to the phantom thieves and the crooked principal looked at his cognigtive research diploma then said "Eh, close enough."

[@EpicNerdsWithCameras]

Well the game talks about how he opened his own clinic beforehand, which is where he met Kasumi. So he teeechnically has prior experience, but it isn't very comprehensive.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yeah, I think he must have some level of credentials but just having credentials and making it through your coursework definitely doesn't mean that you're going to be a great counselor and it appears he very much missed some vital lessons, or simply ignored them.

[@Mir_Teiwaz]

I'm not sure if it's as big as deal as I'm thinking it is, but it also seems hard to call it a counseling session when they're doing it out in public where anyone could hear them talking.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I would definitely agree. But since it wasn’t an official client and it was more of a conversation Maruki had to be nice, he really isn’t liable for Yusuke’s confidentiality like he is with everyone else and HOPEFULLY he made that clear to Yusuke off screen because while he wouldn’t get in trouble for it, it still wouldn’t be cool. Lol

[@mattpreece6106]

if its compusory then would the information of simply names be still confidential?

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Yup!

[@mattpreece6106]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT ah.. so it must be explicit consent from the patient/client.. and only for the specific information given in that consent

[@connorbroderick7148]

Spoilers: I am curious if you relate to Maruki's ultimate goal as a counseling student yourself. It seems likely that you disagree with his methods of doing so, but do you sympathize with his need to remove the scars of people's lives from them?

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

So, that's a super interesting question. My kneejerk response is "yes, I do sympathize." but in reality, I don't know. In reality there are a lot of people who have been through a lot of things that I can't even begin to imagine experiencing, that have a lot of intense scars both visible and invisible and a big piece of me wishes that those scars could have never happened or they could just be gone, so in that way I do sympathize with that desire because there are a lot of horrible things in the world. But when it comes down to it I tend to try not to think in terms of "what if this never happened?" but instead "where can we go from here?" because there isn't a magic way to remove that stuff so I try not to think too much on it. I try to think in terms of how can I be the best support to the people I'm working with for as long as they need so that they can continue towards their own self-actualization (not to be confused with Maruki's nonsense which is imposed-actualization). I hope that answered your question!

[@thejonbrownshow8470]

I will also state with how sue happy people are these days, I'm surprised personally Maruki is so well received, but everyone in-universe, if they were made aware of the fake reality, would sue his ass off lol(like sure he's the most likable villian, but atleast shido as just a regular man didn't actually brainwash people, they made the stupid decision of electing him themselves atleast, yaldaboath is not human so I don't factor him in so much as a villian lol) Also on a unrelated mostly note, we're talking about, generally, people who can be made at Nintendo's "racism" with their arms character in smash, yet they can forgive Maruki wholly and want the best for him and yadada. Just seeing the leniency and strictness of people in general is very jarring lol

[@sampletxt9099]

I have a question. Is it a breach of confidentiality to talk about one client to another if you leave out their identity and identifying information, for example "I have another client with similar struggles, and theyve worked through it like this"?

[@ShuraEssays]

About the confidentiality breach, if Yusuke already knew about it, which is what he lead with, to paraphrase, "Oh I heard you counseled these guys," is it really that amoral to be like "Oh you knew that?" Because he hadn't really said anything about the session itself. Actual question though, since you would know more about it. It does say with sound legal *or ethical* judgement, and if somebody already knows it happened, it doesn't seem unethical to confirm that it it happened, if that's all you said.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

The Four Star Gamer That's a really good question and I'm sorry if this is long but I want to answer fully. :) Even though he seems to know about these sessions it’s still an ethical breach because he doesn’t have explicit permission from the clients to share this information. It really doesn't matter how harmless it seems because it's not your right to share. For instance if someone’s sibling were to come up to him to ask about their sibling who he had counseled it still would be unethical to acknowledge that counseling relationship. The rationale for this being that it prevents any situations in which this information could be used against the client. While we know Yusuke is fine what if there was a chance that once he got confirmation he used this information to harass them? That could do irreparable harm to the counseling relationship to the point that they may never want to go back, that likely wouldn't happen but it's a risk that shouldn't be taken. In reality the therapeutic relationship is between you and the client. Even if there’s a 1% chance the information that you’re meeting with them could be a breach of trust or this information could be used against the them means it’s an immediate no-go. Now if they've filled out paperwork and said you can talk acknowledge that they are your client to their spouse or someone then that changes things because they made that choice themselves! And regarding the sound legal and ethical judgement, a breach is literally on acceptable if you are being subpoenaed (where you only give the information they NEED, nothing more) or the client is a risk to themselves or others and you need to have DEFINITIVE proof of this, and you should have told them from the get-go that these are the situations in which you would have to breach confidentiality so they aren't blindsided if these situations come up. And it’s not only for the client’s benefit but your own because if you breach without explicit client consent you could get heavily fined by an ethics board so this is also saving you as the counselor a lot of headaches. It sounds like a lot but for most counselors it's second nature. Just don't talk about clients without need or permission and you're 100% good. I hope that makes sense and again, sorry it was so long! :)

[@ShuraEssays]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT that wasn't too long, and thanks, that's a pretty good explanation. I understand the reasoning behind it but also I'm always going to be biased because in my head I'm using the example of best boi Yusuke as the "random guy" and of course Yusuke could never do anything malicious. Thanks for the answer!

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

For sure! Yusuke is great, but better safe than sorry! 😊

[@joshuamedina6807]

I would like to point out Yusuke stated that he heard about the counciling from Ann and Ryugi and all he did was state the last names out loud for confirmation that that was who Yusuke was referring as the staff refer to students by their last name at no point did he state that he counciled them therefore not breaching confidentiality in fact his next line bringing the topic on to himself could even be seen as a deflection of having to break standard conversation with a new potential client as to not make Yusuke feel uncomfortable with him

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I promise you an ethics board would not see it that way. He acknowledged that he knew them then proceeded to infer that Yusuke wanted to know about counseling. It's definitely a breach as he should never mention clients he works with in general, even to other students who know the counseling is mandatory, whether he's at the school or not. And he's not in private practice right now, he's actively employed to only work with one population, so Yusuke is not a potential client. If Ann or Ryuji lodged a complaint because of this Maruki would almost definitely be fined and have to take an ethics course.

[@joshuamedina6807]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT actually he would know every student in school dispite if they were conciled or not it was heavily requested that all students go see Maruki at least once but they mentioned it technically wasn't mandatory that's actually the in universe explanation for why everyone did their sessions as they appear in the story also it was Yusuke who directly stated his interest in his conciling technically he didn't confirm they saw him if anything taking a moment to confirm who Yusuke was talking about could imply that they didn't get conciling in the first place and as you yourself state he was backed into a corner and approached rather unexpectedly his off the cuff dismissal and deflection could have been the best he could come up with for a knee jerk reaction I'd say not terrible he would certainly most likely be fine we also know he's technically not a licensed Counciler he was hired by the school on a whim on short notice for 1 year a job he only took because his cognitive psience research had stagnated the school is more in the wrong then Maruki himself for hiring someone who's not even qualified to begin with and honestly Marukis end of year speech done on the day of his retirement is a much better example of a confidential breach even then he uses broad generalizations doesn't specify anyone by name directly states multiple cases to not single anyone out and does all in his power to cover himself while still delivering a heartfelt passionate and personal speech so even that is debatable he likely would be fine in the long run assuming that this could even make it so far as to reach the board of ethics to begin with

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

@@joshuamedina6807 I respectfully disagree. Based on everything I know from my own professional experiences, seeing other professionals deal with unintentional breaches, as well as my Master's Counseling program I stand-by my assessment that it is unethical and a breach of confidentiality.

[@basilofgoodwishes4138]

What would have you done in Maruki's stead, had a friend of your clients asked you personally about your relationship with them? Would you have lied or ended the discussion? I feel like the latter option confirmed a counselling relationship, but maybe an ethics board would see it differently? Is there a code word that can avert any form of confidential breach? I am intrigued now! Please give me an answer, if you like? Anyway, great video, I hope you do more Persona videos!

[@zdude0127]

I have only watched one video in this series here. It has brought up an interesting question: is there ANY good Maruki has done with his counseling?

[@reynaldacontreras9165]

I know this video was posted a while ago, but I still hope you answer :( What would have been an appropriate response to Yusuke when he brought up Ann and Ryuji? "I can't confirm that, but I do council students here at Shujin." ???

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I just wouldn't have acknowledged the names even being brought up. Yusuke ends his comment by saying he'd like to speak with Maruki. Maruki doesn't have to say Ann and Ryuji's last names and acknowledge his familiarity. He could have just skipped that and said he's flattered... Nothing Yusuke was saying forced Maruki to acknowledge the relationship, he did that of his own accord! Hope that helps! :)

[@reynaldacontreras9165]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT oh okay. that makes sense :) thanks for answering! I appreciate it. I'm a new subscriber and I'm excited for your new content that you post! :D

[@AdumbroDeus]

"this shows his blatant misunderstanding of what a counselor's role should be" This is definitely something I disagree on, it's particularly evident here when Yusuke calls him out that he tries to justify his approach in the language of the actual role of counselors. I don't think he misunderstands anything, his language speaks to being aware of a counselor's role and actively choosing a different role, actively choosing to take the autonomy of his clients away in order to "fix" them while being aware that counselors are supposed to empower their clients to fix themselves.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I can totally respect that perspective and while I can see where you're coming from (and you could very well be right!) I still tend to lean towards my thoughts on the matter. The reason I tend to lean towards my thoughts is simply because I don't think he's made the active choice to go against what a counselor's role should be, instead I think it's a byproduct of the events within his own personal. I think that Maruki went into counseling with his own goals of "fixing people" in mind and when he likely did hear about what a counselor's role is supposed to be I just don't think he internalized it because he had such tunnel vision on his methods of "helping" people. Again, that's just my interpretation of the events and without diving into his (or the writers) heads, I can't be 100% positive. :)

[@AdumbroDeus]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT I definitely understand where you're coming from, but I think he displays too much knowledge of what a counselor is supposed to do, namely empowering their clients to help themselves, for it not to be a conscious choice. Especially since Maruki is presented as very introspective and thoughtful about his objectives. I think his past brought him there, and he certainly has tunnel vision about what his patients need, but that doesn't inherently mean he's not aware of what he's supposed to be doing, you can just as easily make a conscious choice to rebel based on your past and tunnel vision about what people need as unconsciously misunderstand what your role is. His ready answer strikes me as telling, I think it suggests he grappled with his methods being unethical before. Also, the other thing that leads me to this conclusion is narrative. He has a persona, he's rebeling against society, what is his rebellion? You could argue it's against the system that prevented his research from coming to completion, but that's not really what he's doing in the narrative. He already won that fight. Instead he's "fixing" people, his clinic uses cognitive psience to "counsel" people, to "fix" them. That's why I think it's not a misunderstanding, I think he knows what a counselor's role is, and is purposefully rebelling against the constraints of the counseling field because he thinks that simply trying to empower clients doesn't actually fix them and they deserve happiness. (Sorry if I'm a little passionate, the but your videos made me think really deeply on Maruki's character and the narrative threads that gave me this impression of the character)

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

@@AdumbroDeus Don't apologize for a second for being passionate! I love that these videos can help spark this kind of stuff! :) And you know, that honestly makes a lot of sense and if I'm honest isn't a narrative explanation that I had taken into consideration and it's something that I'll have to gnaw over for a bit because what you're saying is really interesting. So thank you for taking the time to share this because now that you explain it, I'm much more on the fence because that seems so plausible!

[@AdumbroDeus]

@@ThoughtBubbleYT ya, well I'm ND so I have to be careful about overtaking when I get passionate about anything. Plus, there's always the dreaded "internet commentator that lectures a topical expert about their topic of expertise" which I try to avoid being.

[@wingedstarz]

I wish I had a therapist who was into analyzing video games and anime!!!! I don’t play this game. Only played persona 3 FES. Good music!

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

I played Persona 3 FES when I was a lot younger and it made me fall in love with the series! :) I'm ashamed to say I never beat it though...

[@lit9065]

can i know about your education journey so far? i’m interested in pursuing a career in psychology.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Psychology is an awesome field with a lot of options available within it depending on what aspects you're interested in! So I got an undergraduate degree in psychology with a clinical concentration while minoring in education then I proceeded to start my Master's in Clinical Mental Health counseling. But internships are absolutely ESSENTIAL whether a program requires them or not because that real-life experience is really what shows you whether you're pursuing the right path or not and so I had two internships in undergrad and I'll have two during my Master's plus additional professional experience (doing group counseling and career coaching) that I actually get paid for. :)

[@platformingames2967]

I didn’t a poll can you put stuff in the description

[@DividiDavidiDoo]

Since acknowledging that he knew Ryuji and Ann was a breach of confidentiality, what would have been the ethical course of action? Should he have feigned ignorance and just said "I have no idea who you're talking about"? I am curious as to what you're supposed to do when a weirdo like Yusuke starts grilling you about your counseling work

[@marche800]

The ironic thing about Maruki is that he doesn't realize that he himself has been "confined into a certain frame of mind" by the world around him. He thinks his only way to make up for his ruined relationship and sabotaged research is to solve other people's problems and use his research to do it. But ultimately he's just not able to let go due to the lingering and unaddressed pain he's been smothering behind his altruism.

[@jimphoenix494]

I swear Maruki is such a good villain, Yaldabaoth has nothing on this guy

[@WiffleYK]

He is not a very good at his job LMAO but for the story it is good

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Definitely great for the story.

[@sourcandy4770]

Hi

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Hello! lol

[@destinyshand2049]

due to a technicality Dr Maruki did NOT violate any confidentiality, Yusuke said that Ann and Ryuji had talked ABOUT Dr Maruki, then Dr. maruki, due to Ann and Ryuji's given names not ringing a bell immediately and as a representative of the school, confirmed that he KNEW them by using their family names. not that they were clients. it is a seemingly minor detail that can have a major impact on the interpretation of confidentiality.

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

That’s actually not true. Simply acknowledging the relationship could be considered a breach. That’s very much bending the rules and an ethics board most certainly would not accept that answer. Yusuke was asking in terms of hearing about counseling and so it’s inferred that’s how Maruki knows them and so he in essence confirmed this counseling relationship. So even though it may seem minor it was still 100% a breach.

[@frayzard]

Haha funny juice box man says dumb things

[@Someguyonline7732]

I think you blow him mentioning ann and ryuji a little out of proportion. But if you also consider the fact that Yusuke tells Maruki he heard about him from those two by name, it would be incredibly hard/stupid for him to even try to pull off denying knowing them. Now if Maruki instigated mentioning them it would be different but Maruki is also shown to be a bad liar anyway. The other thing is realistically as long as he doesnt disclose further details than yes i know them because they go to school here, how is that a breach of anything?

[@ThoughtBubbleYT]

Because he shouldn’t have even acknowledged knowing them as a counselor. It’s a big no-no. So even though it may seem blown out of proportion to you, it’s just the way it is for counselors. It’s a breach of confidentiality because they didn’t give written consent to talk to Yusuke about meeting with them, even though Yusuke already knows. In this situation he doesn’t have to deny knowing them, he doesn’t even have to lie. It would have been super easy to just blow past Yusuke’s comment, not addressing the name drop at all. But he did, and that’s why it’s a definite mistake. Ann and Ryuji probably wouldn’t care, but if they DID they could get him in a decent amount of trouble.

[@StealthheartDraws]

Is saying Ryuji and Ann's last names really so bad? It's likely with him working at a high school and teaching a class that he might know the names of two students (especially considering that in Japan, most go by their last name). Yusuke just said he'd heard about Maruki from Ryuji and Ann, and Maruki never said that they were clients of his. I don't understand why that is a breach of confidentiality to say that he knows two students at the school he works at?