Psychosomatic research in Japan

International Trends of Therapy and Research in Psychosomatic Medicine

“…The Japanese methods of therapy are heavily influenced by Eastern systems of me ditation, Zazen, Morita therapy, autogenic training and other body-centered techniques of therapies. A more experiential search for the 'authentic self and a need to become an integral part of the family, the society and the universe are at the core of the patient's strivings [24], It should be noted that not withstanding Ikemi's efforts for integrating Eastern and Western psychosomatic ap proaches, the discipline in Japan remains heavily medical orientated judging from the abstracts of the Japanese Journal o f Psycho somatic Medicine.…”

Introduction

“…Now the field of psy chosomatic research embraces very divergent topics of interaction be tween psychic and somatic factors. Surveys of the activities in the last years in different countries or from circumscribed points of view arc ex posed in articles by Chertok [4], Gôrres [11], Ikemi [19], Leigh [22], Lopez-Ibor [23], Reiser [32] and Wittkower [42]. Most of the contributions can be grouped in three main areas: research based on clinical data, psycho-physiological experiments and the elaboration of conceptual tools to deal with the relationship between psychic and somatic phenomena.…”