Naikan and Danshukai for the Treatment of Japanese Alcoholic Patients

Abstract

Summary The author uses two important therapies, Naikan Therapy (Self‐observation Psychotherapy) and Danshukai (Alcohol Abstinence Society), in treating Japanese alcoholics. Naikan Therapy is a method which is administered mainly in hospitals and is most suitable for patients to reflect on their past lives, retrieve the bonds of affection of their families and make up their minds to abstain from alcohol. Danshukai is an important method, particularly as after‐care following discharge in the sense that patients continue sticking to the resolution to give up drinking they made in the hospital, while keeping in touch with their fellow members for encouragement. These two methods were born in the Japanese Buddhist climate and are much alike in their basic principles. Particularly, regarding the family as important and making efforts with the family are outstanding features common to these two methods, and they can be administered one after the other to provide a synthetical effect.