Hypnosis, psychoanalysis, and Morita therapy: the evolution of Kokyō Nakamura's psychotherapeutic theories and practices. Issue 3 (September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Yu-Chuan
• Other Names: Suzuki Akihito guest-editor.; Wang Wen-Ji guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: History of psychiatry. Volume 33:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 279
• Page End: 292
• Publication Date: 2022-09
• Subjects: Hypnosis -- Japan -- Morita therapy -- Kokyō Nakamura -- psychoanalysis -- psychotherapy; Psychiatry -- History -- Periodicals; Mental illness -- History -- Periodicals; 616.89009
• DOI: 10.1177/0957154X221087411
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-154X

Abstract

Psychotherapy had developed into a dynamic and diverse field in pre-war Japan. Apart from thousands of spiritually oriented lay psychotherapists, there were a few quasi-professional practitioners who insisted on a rational approach and experimented with a variety of psychotherapeutic methods. Among them was Kokyō Nakamura, whose quest for a viable psychotherapeutic method is intriguing and illuminating. This paper examines the evolution of Nakamura's theories and practices by dividing it into three stages: hypnotic suggestion, psychoanalysis, and Morita therapy. His pragmatic and adaptive approach to psychotherapy provides not only an interesting example for studying the spread of psychotherapy across nations and cultures, but also valuable clues to understanding its nature as a body of knowledge and therapeutic method.