Abstract
Morita Therapy is a Japanese psychotherapy which contrasts with established Western approaches in teaching, through behavioural experience, that symptoms are part of the natural ecology of human experience. Morita Therapy has received increasing international interest over the decades, and the first randomized controlled trial of Morita Therapy to be published outside of China has recently demonstrated the promise of the approach in treating Western patients. To respond to the resulting interest in Morita Therapy from patients and practitioners, and facilitate further Morita Therapy research, it is necessary to provide the detailed explanation of Morita Therapy which is currently rare in the West. In this article, we fill this gap with a thorough description of Morita Therapy in terms of the key principles, objectives and processes of the approach; its basis in Eastern philosophy and naturalism; its sociohistorical context and development over a wide range of formats, patient conditions, and countries. To enable Western practitioners to appreciate and capitalize on the potential value of Morita Therapy as a distinct alternative for patients, we illustrate the approach’s unique method and objective compared to Western psychotherapies, and provide recommendations for practitioners applying Morita Therapy across cultures.
Highlights
Morita Therapy, a Japanese psychotherapy developed by Dr Shōma Morita in 1919, is a holistic, experiential approach which aims to re-orientate patients in nature (Morita 1998)
Experiential and noninterventional approach with a phenomenological focus which moves beyond the acceptance of symptoms to the reorientation of patients in nature, Morita therapy differs from established Western psychotherapies in its methods and objectives
Morita Therapy is grounded in Eastern naturalism and Japan’s distinctive culture, the approach has received increasing international interest over the decades
Summary
Morita Therapy, a Japanese psychotherapy developed by Dr Shōma Morita in 1919, is a holistic, experiential approach which aims to re-orientate patients in nature (Morita 1998). With a focus on allowing suffering as it is, and unpleasant thoughts and emotions conceptualized as natural and uncontrollable phenomena, Morita Therapy contrasts with the focus of established Western approaches on symptom reduction and control (Krech 2014). For the first time, rigorous empirical data on the application of Morita Therapy in the West is available, and there is increasing interest in the approach worldwide. The purpose of this article is to provide the necessary in-depth explanation of Morita Therapy which is currently rare in the West. We describe the development and diversity of Morita Therapy over different formats, patient conditions and countries, and provide recommendations for practitioners applying the approach across cultures
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
