Consideration of indigenous ethos in psychotherapeutic practices: Pungryu and Korean psychotherapy

Abstract

Great efforts to create an ambience, wherein trusted cultural values can be incorporated into the practices of western methods of psychotherapy, have been raised also in Korea. Despite the increasing body of research into the impacts of culture on psychotherapy, little is known about the Korean perspective of indigenous psychotherapy. Initially a qualitative inquiry into the historical meaning and effects of experience, this article attempts to interpret a way to highlight indigenous psychotherapeutic methods derived from the concept of Korean ethos ‘Pungryu’. It debates its implication for modern Korean psychotherapy and considers the efficiency of culturally relevant psychotherapy in practice, further seeking to demonstrate the importance of invigorating an ethos intrinsic to each culture or society, as an essential knowledge by which psychotherapeutic methods can be attuned to the distinct cultural or societal expectation.