Morita Therapy - Morita Therapy Methods (Western)

Morita Therapy Methods (Western)

Shoma Morita's groundbreaking work was first published in Japan in 1928, so that pure Morita Therapy had its greatest applications to a Japanese culture almost one hundred years ago. Morita Therapy Methods (MTM) brought Morita’s original thinking to the west, and has sought to adapt it to modern western minds and culture.

Thus, for example, the original Morita treatment process has the patient spend their first week of treatment isolated in a room without any outside stimulation—no books, no television, no therapy other than being alone with their own thoughts. Modern-day benefits providers are unlikely to see the ancient wisdom of paying for people who are attempting to learn to better face the challenges of life to spend a week alone sitting in a hospital bed; and the practice has been modified, the MTM approach seeking nonetheless to remain consistent with the underlying principles.

The shinkeishitsu concept has also been broadened to consider not just anxiety, but life situations in which modern westerners may find themselves, involving stress, pain (physical, psychological, or both) and the aftermath of trauma (physical, psychological or both). While no cure-all, and requiring personal commitment and action, MTM is an amalgamation of Eastern treatment methods applied to the Western mind, and claims to help patients find, and use, a well of inner strength deep within themselves that enables them to make powerful changes in their life, though further research to clarify its effectiveness in Western settings is still required.

As with Morita therapy proper, MTM is roughly divided into four basic areas of treatment.