Morita Shoma
Encyclopedia
Morita Masatake also read as Morita Shoma (1874 - 1938 (森田 正馬), was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud
and the founder of Morita Therapy
, a branch of clinical psychology
strongly influenced by Zen
Buddhism. In his capacity as the head of psychiatry
for a large Tokyo
hospital, Morita began developing his methods while working with sufferers of shinkeishitsu, or anxiety disorders with a hypochondriac base.
According to Morita, how a person feels
is important as a sensation and as an indicator for the present moment, but is uncontrollable: we don't create feelings, feelings happen to us. Since feelings do not cause our behavior
, we can coexist with unpleasant feelings while still taking constructive action.
The essence of Morita's method maybe summarized in three rules: Accept all your feelings, know your purpose(s), and do what needs to be done. When once asked what shy people should do, Morita replied, "Sweat."
Karen Horney
, an American psychologist, acknowledged the usefulness of Morita's techniques as did, by extension, Albert Ellis. Perhaps most notable of Morita's followers is David K. Reynolds
. Dr. Reynolds synthesized parts of Morita Therapy
along with the practice of Naikan
into Constructive Living
, an educational method intended for English speaking Westerners. Constructive Living has since become extremely popular in Japan.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
and the founder of Morita Therapy
Morita therapy
Morita Therapy is a purpose-centered, response oriented therapy from Japan, created in the 1930s by Dr. Shoma Morita.-Background:Dr Shoma Morita was a psychiatrist and department chair at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo...
, a branch of clinical psychology
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
strongly influenced by Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhism. In his capacity as the head of psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
for a large Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
hospital, Morita began developing his methods while working with sufferers of shinkeishitsu, or anxiety disorders with a hypochondriac base.
According to Morita, how a person feels
Feeling
Feeling is the nominalization of the verb to feel. The word was first used in the English language to describe the physical sensation of touch through either experience or perception. The word is also used to describe experiences, other than the physical sensation of touch, such as "a feeling of...
is important as a sensation and as an indicator for the present moment, but is uncontrollable: we don't create feelings, feelings happen to us. Since feelings do not cause our behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
, we can coexist with unpleasant feelings while still taking constructive action.
"My way of doing things is simple. It's not necessary to make impossible efforts when troubled. Put simply, when you are vexed just be vexed and say, 'Yes, and what shall I do?' Just be in suspense about the outcome and move forward a little at a time."
The essence of Morita's method maybe summarized in three rules: Accept all your feelings, know your purpose(s), and do what needs to be done. When once asked what shy people should do, Morita replied, "Sweat."
- Accept your feelings - Accepting feelings is not ignoring them or avoiding them, but welcoming them; VietnameseVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
poet and writer Thich Nhat HanhNhat HanhThích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France. Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name...
recommends we say, "Hello Loneliness, how are you today? Come, sit by me and I will take care of you." Morita's advice: "In feelings, it is best to be wealthy and generous" - that is, have many and let them fly as they wish.
- Know your purpose - Implicit in Morita's method, and the traditional Buddhist psychological principles which he adapted, is an independence of thought and action, something a little alien to the Western ideal to "follow our whims and moods". Morita held that we can no more control our thoughts than we can control the weather, as both are phenomena of most amazingly complex natural systems. And if we have no hope of controlling our emotions, we can hardly be held responsible any more than we can be held responsible for feeling hot or cold. We do, however, have complete dominion over our behavior, and for Morita, that is a sacred responsibility. "What needs doing now?" is like a mantraMantraA mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
in his methods.
- Do what needs doing - One can feel crushed and alone or hurt and homicidal while pulling up the weeds in your garden, but one wouldn't be doing it at all if one hadn't intended to raise flowers. Morita's way of treatment is very different from the Western diagnosisMedical diagnosisMedical diagnosis refers both to the process of attempting to determine or identify a possible disease or disorder , and to the opinion reached by this process...
/diseaseDiseaseA disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
model. Morita's methods lead his 'students' through experimentExperimentAn experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...
s, and in each assignment, the lesson is not explained by a master, but learned first hand, through the doing or 'taiken', that knowledge gained by direct experience.
Karen Horney
Karen Horney
Karen Horney born Danielsen was a German-American psychoanalyst. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views, particularly his theory of sexuality, as well as the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis and its genetic psychology...
, an American psychologist, acknowledged the usefulness of Morita's techniques as did, by extension, Albert Ellis. Perhaps most notable of Morita's followers is David K. Reynolds
David K. Reynolds
David Kent Reynolds, PhD is a writer and the founder of Constructive Living.He was retained by the World Health Organization to teach Constructive Living to professional health workers in China. Dr. Reynolds studied naikan with Yoshimoto Ishin in Japan.Reynolds, an American, currently divides his...
. Dr. Reynolds synthesized parts of Morita Therapy
Morita therapy
Morita Therapy is a purpose-centered, response oriented therapy from Japan, created in the 1930s by Dr. Shoma Morita.-Background:Dr Shoma Morita was a psychiatrist and department chair at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo...
along with the practice of Naikan
Naikan
Naikan is a structured method of self-reflection developed by Yoshimoto Ishin a business man and devout Jodo Shinshu Buddhist who, as a young man, had engaged in an ascetic 'contrition' practice involving sensory deprivation through dwelling in a dark cave without food, water or sleep...
into Constructive Living
Constructive Living
Constructive Living, founded in the 1980s by Dr David K. Reynolds, is a unique synthesis of the ideas and practices of Shoma Morita embodied in Morita Therapy and Naikan Practice as evolved by Ishin Yoshimoto.Constructive Living is a registered trademark....
, an educational method intended for English speaking Westerners. Constructive Living has since become extremely popular in Japan.