Morita therapy

Morita Therapy

A form of psycho-therapy developed by Dr. Shoma Morita (1874-1938) who was a psychiatrist and department chair at Jikei University's School of Medicine in Tokyo. The therapy is partly infleunced by Zen Buddhism of which Dr. Morita was a practitioner. 

Originally Morita therapy was developed as a treatment for a type of anxiety neurosis called shinkeishitsu. However the applications of Morita therapy are now considered to be much wider, and it has been applied in cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, life-threatening and/or chronic medical conditions and depression. 

Basic tenets of Morita include:

- The Naturalness of Feelings (Arugamama)

- Feelings are Uncontrollable

- Constructive action as opposed to analytical identifying and labelling of problems

“In general, the stronger we desire something, the more we want to succeed, and the greater our anxiety about failure. Our worries and fears are reminders of the strength of our positive desires....Our anxieties are indispensable in spite of the discomfort that accompanies them. To try to do away with them would be foolish. Morita therapy is not really a psychotherapeutic method for getting rid of “symptoms”. It is more an educational method for outgrowing our self-imposed limitations. Through Moritist methods we learn to accept the naturalness of ourselves.” - David Reynolds, Ph.D.

Neo-Morita Therapy

In the West the full original form of Morita, which included a period of compulsory bed-rest, is rarely used and Morita is often combined with other psycho-therapeutic methods. As such this kind of therapy is often termed 'Neo-Morita'. Neo-Morita therapies are defined by Dr. Kenshiro Ohara as having the characteristics of 'accepting painful feelings and undesired character traits as they are and engaging with the world as a healthy person.'