Naikan Therapy—an Experiential View

Abstract

Naikan therapy is a form of directed meditation practised in Japan with reported positive effect on some neuroses, psychosomatic disorders and delinquency problems. It aims at reconstructing the client's view of his past in order to reshape his attitudes and behaviours in the present. Experiential research supplements the usual outsider participant observer perspective with personal experience in roles that exist within the setting—in this case the researcher became a patient and then a therapist as well as an outside observer. 1. Reshaping our past ERGER points out that we are continually reinterpreting our past in terms of our current social status and ideological convictions. We must select (with or without awareness) what is important to remember and how to organise it into a &dquo;meaningful&dquo; personal history. 'We go through life refashioning our calendar of holy days, raising up and tearing down again the signposts that mark our progress through time towards ever newly defined fulfillments'. (Berger, 1963, p. 58). As Berger notes, our reinterpretations of the past are often haphazard, unless we become &dquo;converted&dquo; to some Weltanschauung that provides a systematic framework for reviewing our past. Naikan offers its clients a meaningful system within which they may order their lives, present and past. As we shall see, even the Western participantobserver may become drawn into adopting the Naikan perspective of reality, at least temporarily. The PracticeThe technique of Naikan is simple and readily described. The client sits quietly, reflecting on a sequence of assigned persons and periods in his past life.The setting is uncluttered. The client is isolated behind a folding screen or, in some facilities, simply faces the wall of the room. Sitting in any position is permitted. The clients sits from about 5.30 a.m. until 9.00 p.m., every day for one week, meditating except for periodic interviews (mensetsu), meals, a daily bath and elimination functions. All activities are carried out in isolation, while meditating.The introspection is guided. The topics are chosen individually for each client by his Naikan guide or sensel. Most clients, however, are directed to begin by investing an hour or two considering their mother during their own preschool years, then grammar school years, junior high-school period and so on, up to the present, in approximately three-year steps. The client is given one or two hours to contemplate each of these steps. This first person-topic, the client's mother, will probably be reassigned at least once more before the end of the Naikan experience. In addition to the client's mother, his father, siblings, teachers, spouse, employers and virtually any other person of significant are likely subjects for Naikan meditation. In addition, such topics as lying, gambling and drinking may be assigned to clients with problems in those particular areas.

Culture and Psychotherapy: Review and Practical Guidelines

“…In Japanese naikan literally means 'introspection.' According to Reynolds (1977), the roots of Naikan lie in the Jodo Shinsu sect of Japanese Buddhism. The founder of the sect, Shinran, promised 10 kinds of profit to those who believed -among them, 'joyful acceptance of any hardship' and 'the desire to repay others with a joyful heart.'…”

Mental health and psychosocial interventions to limit the adverse psychological effects of disasters and emergencies in China: a scoping review

“…Cultural differences should be accounted for when providing psychosocial interventions, especially when adapting interventions developed in Western cultures. A network meta-analysis comparing the efficacy of different treatment modalities for common mental health problems reported in 235 clinical trials conducted in China 109 found that indigenous therapies (e.g., Naikan therapy, 110 sand play, and Morita therapy 111 ) and humanistic–experiential therapies (e.g., art therapies) which are closer to the Chinese understanding of psychopathology are more effective than cognitive–psychoeducational therapies such as CBT adapted from the West. One study during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that mental health services using Western models were less acceptable to target participants 16 ; feedback from first-line mental health workers indicated that many patients in shelter hospitals during COVID-19 were unwilling to receive mental health assessments or evidence-based mental health interventions, but they were willing to engage in generic group activities such as square dancing or other aerobic exercises.…”

Naikan and Danshukai for the Treatment of Japanese Alcoholic Patients

“…In Naikan Therapy, the relationship with his mother is thought to be the most fundamental of all his relationships. Each patient has to begin by examining his relationship with his mother, keeping his recent problems out of his mind (Murase and Johnson, 1974;Reynolds, 1977).…”