CBT Tokyo

Earn 9.0 Mainpro+ credits from the euthymogenic winners of the CFPC's National CPD Program Award and explore the largest (and arguably most fascinating) metropolis on earth: the "Alpha+" city of Tokyo.

Vibrant Tokyo

October 7, 2018

9.0 Mainpro+ credits

Tuition $495 CDN (tax-free)

This CME respects your time. This workshop is certified at the highest level (three-credits-per-hour) by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Our 3:1 CME saves you an incredible amount of time (and therefore money) over 1:1 CME. Just have a look at the five-year benefit calculations.

Vacation CME has many advantages over local CME. See what your colleagues are saying, and explore the case for it being four-credit-per-hour CME.

Many physician leaders have been trained by CBT Canada over the past twenty years. Alumni include CFPC presidents (both national & provincial), department chairs, residency training program directors—and even a few doctors who are comfortable using drills & saws. For a compilation of testimonials, click here.

CBT Tokyo will be held on Sunday, October 7, 2018 at the Sheraton Miyako Hotel Tokyo. The workshop, entitled Ten-Minute CBT, runs from 8:30AM to 12:00PM. A Japan orientation and slideshow immediately follows the workshop. You're free thereafter to join your travelling companions in exploring one of the world's most fascinating & enriching cities.

The CME

Medical CBT is specifically designed for the ultra-brief appointments typical of primary care. In this workshop you'll learn the essentials of a skill that may fundamentally change how you cope with the all-important psychological side of medicine.

You'll learn flexible Ten-Minute CBT tools to integrate into your existing approaches to major depression, persistent depression (“dysthymia” until DSM-5), chronic worry, chronic pain, panic disorder, non-compliance, substance abuse, illness anxiety, borderline personality disorder, suicidality, and more.

Lead faculty Greg Dubord, MD has given over 400 CBT workshops, and is a University of Toronto CME Teacher of the Year.

Learning objectives

1. Learn to break patients away from their "empathy addictions"

2. Learn to structure ten-minute appointments to maximize impact

3. Learn the vital importance of not working harder than most patients

University of Toronto
May 2017 workshop evaluations.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [1.7 MB]

The cruise option

Diamond Princess

Many physicians are taking only this Ten-Minute CBT workshop. However, since you're "in the neighbourhood", why not join us for our Japanese CME cruise that follows? The CME cruise is from October 7-16, 2018 and consists of the award-winning CBT Tools module. Join us and you'll learn a multitude of ultra-brief CBT techniques to make your work much easier with both medical and psychiatric patients (cases).

Sheraton Miyako

When you travel a lot, hotels begin to blur. Not so with the Sheraton Miyako Hotel in Tokyo. The Miyako is one of our stand-out favorite hotels anywhere. It integrates familiar Sheraton elements with the sublime Japanese design esthetic, providing the healing environment the jetlagged traveler needs. The focal point is a 100 foot by 25 foot glass window overlooking a Zen Garden.

Located just up the road, Happo-En ("Garden of Eight Views") is one of Tokyo's most acclaimed Zen gardens. Built in the early 17th century, it centers around a large koi pond with waterfalls & streams & sculptures. The exquisite bonsai collection consists of dozens of wizened characters (some planted well before the time of Columbus) that have been lovingly tended to by generations of monastic gardeners. In addition to a Japanese restaurant (Enju), café (Thrush) and traditional tea house (Muan), there are options for zen meditations led by a Buddhist monk.

Also within walking distance of the Sheraton Miyako are a trio of major art museums (the Hatakeyama, the Matsuoka, & the Teien), the peaceful Institute for Nature Study (bird's eye view), many high-end clothing boutiques, a top-notch "conveyor belt" sushi restaurant, the mind-blowing Inageya grocery store... and several of Japan's famous "100 yen" (dollar) shops.

Yayoi Kusama—the world's most popular artist in 2014—now has a new 5-story museum, located just 20min from the Sheraton Miyako. You may have seen Kusama's whimsical polka dots on George Clooney or in Louis Vuitton windows. Reservations are essential.

But is it safe walking around a big city like Tokyo? According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (2017; see section below), Tokyo is THE safest city on earth. You'll see many young children (ages 6-7) alone on the subway as they commute to and from school. According to cultural anthropologist Dwayne Dixon, PhD it's not just self-sufficiency, but that "Japanese kids learn early on that, ideally, any member of the community can be called on to serve or help others” (reference and videos). But don't rely on that in Ontario (it may be illegal for children under 16), nor in China (where abduction, especially of young boys, is a horrific problem).

To book your room at the Sheraton Miyako Hotel Tokyo email Arlene at vacation@cbt.ca or call her at 877.466.8228 x 333. Reserve soon to prevent weeping and/or gnashing of teeth!

Seeing is believing? Click here for a collection of Dr. Greg Dubord's personal photos of the Happo-En Zen Gardens, as well as photos of the Sheraton Miyako Tokyo Hotel.

Tokyo

50 Things To Do

Stroll the Imperial Palace grounds
Experience a Japanese tea ceremony
Explore the Asakusa Buddhist Temple (ca. 645 AD)
Join the action at the Sumo Stadium
Taste the crispness of fresh draft sake
Experience the extraordinary Shibuya Scramble Intersection
Explore the 175 beautiful acres of the Meiji Shrine
Be charmed at Miyazaki's Ghibli Museum
Explore the Tsukiji Fish Market, the world's largest
Have a drink at the Park Hyatt, featured in Lost in Translation
Catch the view from the 333m Tokyo Tower
Tour 2020 Summer Olympics sites
Make friends with those famous Japanese toilets
Explore the Akihabara, the world's top electronics district
Hop on the famous shinkansen (bullet train)
Enjoy one of Tokyo's 304 (!) Michelin-starred restaurants
Experience the Tokyo Metro, arguably the world's finest
Treat the kids to ultra-clean Tokyo Disneyland
Hike around the iconic Mount Fuji
Tour the Tokyo National Museum
Enjoy a meal at a high-tech kaiten-zushi restaurant
Visit a traditional sword shop
See Tokyo from above from the iconic Tochō (free!)
Explore the massive National Art Center
Stroll the top-rated Shinjuku National Garden
Soak away your worries in a traditional onsen
Explore the upscale Ginza District
See the extreme fashions of the Harajuku Girls
Check out the interactive Miraikan technology museum
Stroll Tokyo University's Koishikawa Botanical Garden
Be awed by the sublime Nezu Museum
Walk inside the Kamakura Great Daibutsu (Buddha)
Visit the Yasukuni Shrine and War Museum
Explore DisneySea, the world's third most popular theme park
Enjoy the best Japanese food on the planet
Rocket to the top of the Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest tower
Learn more about Shinto, Japan's native religion
Overwhelm your senses at the Robot Restaurant
Get thee cultured at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Hike the beautiful Fuji Five Lakes region
Visit the Japanese emperor's palace (Edo Castle)
Play in Tokyo's new Odaiba entertainment district
Browse Mandarake, a massive manga & anime shop
Enjoy the world's steepest roller coaster
Shop along Tokyo's tip-top Omotesandō Avenue
Explore the captivating Edo-Tokyo Museum
Be awed by the Matsuya & Mitsukoshi department stores
Suit-up at the new Samurai Museum
Take a sightseeing tour of Tokyo’s Sumida River
Explore the huge grounds of Ueno Park
Catch a performance at the Ginza Kabuki Theatre
Explore the Tokyo Sea Life Park
Wander around the Tokugawa shogunate’s Hamarikyu Gardens
Check out Harajuku's new Kawaii Monster Cafe

Japan's affordability is a wonderful surprise for many first-time visitors. In the heady 70s, a yen was worth about 3¢, but today it's worth only about a penny. That makes converting from yen to dollars easy: just lop off two zeros. Is 100 yen for 2 pieces of sushi expensive? Not when you realize it's just a loonie! Want something fancier, like a Michelin-starred meal? For 1,200 yen ($12 CDN) you can enjoy a bowl of ramen at Tokyo's Tsuta, the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world.

Japan's cuisine is unsurpassed. The cities with the greatest number of Michelin-starred restaurants are Tokyo (304), Kyoto (135), Paris (134), Osaka (117), and then proud NYC (99). Even a Japanese city you may never have heard of (Nara) ties with Rome (both 21). What you want is a kaiseki (multi-course) dinner. Sushi is a snack.

According to the 2017 Safe Cities Index, put together by the Economist’s Intelligence Unit (EIU), Tokyo is the world's safest city. Tokyo scored highly across all four categories of personal safety, infrastructure safety, health security, and "digital security".

The Studio Ghibli museum is a must-see for fans of Japanese animation. "When the New York Times’s chief film critics ranked the best movies of the century so far, many readers were surprised by the work at No. 2: Hayao Miyazaki’s animated “Spirited Away.” The rest of us wondered why it wasn’t No. 1" (article with catalog).