Masa Morita’s Person
Theoretical System of Morita Therapy
The theoretical system of the Morita Doctrine is not an extension of some theory or a laboratory conclusion, but rather a summary of Masa Morita’s own neurological experience and his years of clinical practice.
The core theory of Morita therapy is the theory of mental interaction.
According to Morita, “The so-called mental interaction refers to a series of mental processes that increase the sensation of a sensation in a state of hypersensitivity if attention is focused on that sensation, and the acuity of that sensation causes more and more attention to be focused and fixed on that sensation, and the interaction of this combination of sensation and attention increases its sensation more and more. Interaction”. He also believes that there is often a contradiction between subjective and objective, between emotion and reason, between understanding and experience in man, and calls it a contradiction of thought.
”Neuroticism”
Morita Masa believes that neuroticism is an abnormal or strong tendency in personality, which is characterized by caution, pursuit of perfection, sensitivity and suspicion, and doing things by the book. He believes that the tone of the quality of suspiciousness is the basis for the occurrence of neuroticism, and that people with this quality worry excessively about their body and mind, and in some cases, overly consider the feelings, emotions, and thoughts that anyone often has as pathological, and are devoted to them and In other words, the natural physiological and psychological phenomena are artificially considered to be pathological, and the attention is focused on such feelings, which makes them more sensitive and further leads to more concentration of attention.
The desire for life and the horror of death
According to Morita, the desire for life includes instincts such as self-preservation and appetite, as well as the social desire to be recognized and to move upward. The terror of death includes the fear of failure, the fear of death and disease, the fear of losing all kinds of things of psychological value, and so on, while pursuing the desire, and this terror has the same meaning as anxiety. If the two are balanced, the body and mind will be healthy, but if the two are opposed, the terror of death will prevail and cause neurotic pathology.
Let nature take its course and do what is right
He believes that the existence of symptoms cannot be overcome immediately by human will, but only by openly facing and accepting them, and by taking action regardless of whether the emotions are good or bad, and by pursuing one’s life goals with a constructive attitude while the symptoms exist.
Implementation of Morita Therapy
Indications for Morita Therapy The main indication for Morita Therapy is the so-called “neuroticism”. These include anxiety disorders, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, hypochondriacs, and neurotic sleep disorders, among others. There are two types of treatment: outpatient and inpatient.
Outpatient treatment
Once a week, you receive life coaching and diary guidance for a period of about 2-6 months.
The basic points of outpatient treatment are.
1.Experience in detail to exclude the possibility of somatic diseases and to relieve the patient’s doubts;
2. Ask the patient to accept his or her symptoms and go with the flow, never attempting to reject them.
3. Ask the patient to engage in daily activities with the symptoms in order to shift the attention of the pain to the unconscious, so that the painful experience disappears or diminishes in consciousness;
4. Tell the patient not to take the symptoms to heart;
5. The therapist should review the patient’s diary on time and the patient should promise to write and submit it again next time. Also ask family members not to talk to the patient about the disease or treat it as a patient.
Inpatient treatment
The classic Morita therapy is inpatient treatment and the best method for patients with severe neurological disorders.
Its procedure is roughly divided into four periods.
The first period is absolute bed rest.
The first week begins with absolute bed rest, where all activities such as meeting people, talking, reading books and newspapers, watching TV, etc. are forbidden, and the patient can only lie alone, feeling very distressed because there is nothing to do, so that he or she can experience the “desire to live”. The main purpose of this period is to fundamentally relieve the patient’s mental worries and pains. The patient is allowed to lie down to adjust to physical and mental fatigue and to make a differential diagnosis through observation of mental state. Let the patient be left to recuperate quietly and naturally, so that the annoyance and pain will disappear naturally through the law of emotional changes.
(1) boredom lifting: the second day of bed rest, most patients worry disappeared, and no longer worry about this symptom, they will naturally appear some association, such as the problem of disease, personal problems, family problems, etc., before this treatment should tell the patient: if the association or boredom, do not attempt to eliminate or forget it, to let it develop, and must be quietly bed to endure. These associations or boredom can sometimes make the patient irritable, but when the distress reaches the extreme, it is possible that it will disappear quickly in a short period of time, as a result of natural changes in emotions. Most patients experience these results within 2-3 hours. However, there are cases when the distress is sporadic and even lasts until the fourth or fifth day, in which this treatment process is prolonged by the absence of absolute sedation. On the third day, the patient recalls the sudden freedom from distress of the previous day and is encouraged mentally. It is then explained to the patient the importance of the environment and conditions provided, otherwise it would be impossible to get rid of distress.
(2) Boredom period: On the fourth day, the patient begins to feel bored because he or she is free from distress and develops a desire to participate in active activities thus forming the desired distress. From the next day after the patient deeply experiences the distress of no activity, he is allowed to get up and move into the nearly second treatment period. The first period is usually four days to a week.
(3) Sedation period for insomnia: It is particularly effective for patients with insomnia and anxiety. Such a patient is instructed that if he wants to sleep, he does not have to choose the time and can sleep at will at any time. If you can’t sleep, it’s okay to stay awake for a week straight, never force yourself to sleep. This can quickly eliminate the worry about insomnia, and after 3-7 days, the distress about insomnia can be largely relieved.
The second phase is a period of light work.
This period is mainly a relatively isolated treatment, with activities such as talking, socializing and playing prohibited. Bed rest must be maintained for 7-8 hours a day, but daytime activities are required to go outdoors and be exposed to good air and sunlight, and a diary is kept at night to further determine the patient’s mental state and experience of the treatment. Sometimes some simple labor is also done with the aim of returning to the patient’s mental spontaneous activity. This treatment period is 1 to 2 weeks.
(1) Spontaneous activity enables the patient to endure various morbid experiences quietly and to feel bored physically and mentally in order to induce spontaneous activity, to take the initiative to do things that seem worthless, and to try to start working and persist in whatever they do quickly.
(2) Transcend self-consciousness and take care to avoid the patient’s concerns about the effects of treatment. From the next day onward, in addition to lying still for 7-8 hours, do light work continuously, doing various things depending on the occasion, season, or time of day, etc. After this phase the patient will desire to do heavier work, as a criterion, i.e. enter the third phase.
The third stage is the period of general work.
The inpatient life is gradually enriched and active preparations are made to resume normal social life. However, it is still necessary to ask the patient not to talk about the symptoms with others, as long as he or she focuses on the current life and work (heavy work can be done), organizes some cultural and sports activities, and socializes with others. Through such practice and experience, the patient will naturally stop fighting compulsively with his or her anxiety symptoms, so that the symptoms will disappear naturally. This treatment period is 1 to 2 weeks.
(1) Exclusion of values
During this period, we should pay attention to eliminating the patient’s preconceived values about work or labor, cultivating their confidence that they can do anything that people can do, regardless of their position or type of work, stimulating their interest in work and experiencing a sense of pleasure in their achievements.
(2) Experience that “it is not impossible”
Through labor or work and the pleasure of experiencing achievements, the patient builds up the confidence and courage that “there is nothing in life that cannot be done”, which is a subjective experience obtained in the process of expecting the spontaneous activity of the mind and body by enduring all the pain and eliminating all the difficulties. In this period, the patient feels too much work and too busy, and this busy period marks the transition to the fourth period.
The fourth stage is the period of life training.
This is the period when the patient begins to break his or her personality obsessions, free himself or herself from all restraints, and train to conform and adapt to external changes in preparation for resuming his or her real life. This treatment period is 1 to 2 weeks.
(1) Reading and going out Reading should not be entertaining or thoughtful, but can be done casually at any point in time, without choosing a place or quantity, in order to change the patient’s values and desire for perfection by hoping to read most effectively. Outings are allowed only when necessary, so that they can experience the novelty of sudden exposure to society.
(2) Promote simple emotions, and pay attention to guiding patients to experience and promote simple emotions in therapy in order to overcome idealistic emotions. Patients keep a treatment diary from the second period onward, mainly including daily activities, knowledge of treatment, etc. The diary is reviewed by the supervising physician to point out bad ways of thinking and emotions and to guide further treatment activities, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned inpatient treatment, there is also outpatient treatment, which is conducted once a week in an outpatient clinic, where the principles of Morita therapy are used to conduct interviews and guide the diary. In addition, there are communication therapy, group therapy, and mental health support groups in the form of life meetings.
Features of Morita therapy
(1) Focus on the present without asking about the past. Morita therapy believes that the onset of a patient’s illness is the result of an accidental trigger in the real life of a person with neurotic tendencies. The treatment adopts the “reality principle”, which does not pursue past life experiences, but directs the patient to focus on the present, encouraging the patient to start from the present and make real life dynamic.
(2) Focus on action without asking about symptoms. Morita therapy believes that a patient’s symptoms are nothing more than a form of emotional change, a feeling of subjectivity. Treatment focuses on guiding the patient to take positive action, “action transforms character” and “acting as a healthy person would, you can become a healthy person.
(3) Guidance in life and change in life. Morita therapy does not use any apparatus or special facilities, and advocates living like a normal person in actual life, while changing the patient’s bad behavior patterns and cognition. Treatment in life, change in life.
(4) Cultivate character and avoid shortcomings. Morita therapy believes that character is not fixed, nor does it change with subjective will. No matter what personality there are positive and negative sides. This is also true for neurotic personality traits. Neuroticism has many strengths, such as strong introspection, conscientiousness, practicality, diligence, and a strong sense of responsibility; however, it also has many weaknesses, such as being too careful and cautious, having low self-esteem, exaggerating one’s weaknesses, and pursuing perfection. The strengths of character should be brought into play and the weaknesses of character should be suppressed through active social life refinement.
3. Morita Therapy Motto
Go with nature
There are often many specious and strange views in people’s minds and perceptions. Nature is indeed always pure and beautiful. The phenomena of the animal kingdom are also natural, the phenomena of human society are also natural, and the high cost of goods is also natural. Not only are the waves that are repeatedly flowing against the walls of the rocks natural, but also the people who are constantly striving and struggling when observing the natural phenomena around us, whether macroscopic or microscopic, are also natural.
Let nature take its course. Do not care about the emotions and symptoms that arise, and do what you should do with an eye on your purpose. You should “take what comes and go” and “go with the flow of emotions” and do what you should do. Instead, if there is uneasiness, let it dictate your actions.
Don’t try
If you make an effort to accept pain as pain, you are making it a double effort. In fact, even if you don’t try, pain is still pain. Therefore, it is superfluous to try to do away with suffering. There is no other way than to admit the truth and let the pain that has come to your heart. Just as the Zen Buddhist says, “When there are no distractions in the mind, even the fire feels cool,” if you concentrate on praying for nature to take its course, or if you try to put out the distractions, you will neither be able to follow nature nor put out the distractions.
There is no need for deliberate arrangement
It is enough for us to move according to our simple desires. There is no need to fear the consumption or death of the mind and body. Because in our body there is something that acts as a self-regulation like a safety valve. Therefore, there is no need to rest or recuperate according to those mechanical theories. In the process of activity, there is a constant adjustment of urgency, and natural work changes are carried out, through which it is possible to regulate automatically.
Randomness
”Man is a reed of thought.” This is a fact of the activity of our human heart. It is a nature of man himself that he is an animal that must think. However, conversely, if one makes a constant effort to prod oneself and one’s mind because one thinks that not thinking will not work, such an effort is as futile as attempting to take a hand and push a motor to help it speed up. Toil without success is its inevitable result. If people are able to adapt to the reality of their respective situations, listen to their natural collision, contact with the state of the time in accordance with its improvisation, will play the role of the function of thinking like a spark burst. If one tries to think rigidly, it is like stuffing the furnace with crackling material, which only smokes but does not burn.
Doing what is necessary
It is important to understand not only with the mind, but also through practical action. Just thinking does not produce anything, but acting, constantly making achievements, and understanding through first-hand experience.
To keep doing something
As you said, “Keep doing something,” I finally understand it now. During the 24 hours of the day, we must constantly perform some kind of mental labor, or pay attention to something, or keep our hands and feet moving for whatever purpose. This is a state of high mental concentration. It is a state of high mental concentration, in which the mind, no matter what sudden changes it encounters, can immediately and unpromptedly switch and point to something new.
Removing preconceptions
In the past, I used to think about how to guide myself in my work, but even though I had a certain course of action, it did not become the norm for actual action, even though I was assured of it. If sometimes there is no so-called established course of action, you will be more and more confused. Today, we no longer think in that way, but just do something based on our simple desire.
The patient said, “I’ve decided that I have to go to school from January, but I don’t know if I have the courage to go to school. Morita says, “I don’t need courage to go as long as I can go.
Don’t make unnecessary friendships
The so-called “extensive socializing” is actually a false spirit of bravado and external strength, rather than any learning in socializing. People must act according to the needs of life or as a result of personal desires. Do not go into those unnecessary social intercourse. One must always be careful not to lose one’s original prudent attitude. All activities must always be done from the heart, which is the natural state of removing the hypocrisy and returning to the real person.
Natural on the outside, healthy on the inside
This means that by living like a healthy person, one can be healthy. The nervous person always wants to eliminate symptoms and improve emotions before returning to a healthy life, but this will never lead to a healthy life. If you ignore your emotions and act like a healthy person first, then your emotions will naturally become healthy emotions.
Guidelines for living
Emotion as a guideline
It is the attitude to life that pays attention to emotions. Emotions are not governed by one’s own will. This emotion-oriented attitude to life is common to neurotic patients. Morita therapy asks us to ignore the emotions that are not governed by our will, and to focus on actions that are in accordance with our own wishes. When a patient believes he or she is sick and feels mentally burdened by the symptoms, the doctor tells the patient, “It’s not a symptom, it’s just an emotion,” and it is the action and the results achieved that will show your worth.
Purpose as a guideline
This refers to an attitude of life that is not influenced by emotions and focuses on achieving one’s purpose. For example, if you go out to buy bamboo, it does not matter how you feel at the time, as long as you buy the bamboo, you have achieved your goal, and that is success. If you don’t get the bamboo, it is a failure whether you feel good or bad. In this sense, Morita strives to create a way for patients to abandon their emotion-based attitude to life as much as possible.
Action as a guideline
Only action and the results of such action can reflect a person’s value. Even if a person has noble ideas, if he steals from others, it is theft; conversely, even if he thinks more or less of bad things, if he is willing to help others, he will be seen as a good person. This is how public opinion is evaluated. This is “it is better to do than to think”. In this sense, Morita’s approach to life is to act on emotions as they come, and to act in order to achieve a set goal, which is called action.
A good day is a good day if you feel fulfilled after a day of work or study; a bad day is a bad day if you do not have a fulfilling day. It does not matter how emotional the day is.
Freedom from bondage
After experiencing a certain experience, people are always accustomed to use words like good and bad, right and wrong, good and evil to evaluate it. In fact, facts are facts, there is no good or bad, right or wrong, good or evil, these evaluations are given to it by people. This kind of evaluation prevents people from knowing the truth of things. As Mr. Morita said, “What is and what is not in sleep is equal to nothing; what is and what is not in confusion is equal to right and wrong, and what is right and wrong is equal to wrong,” so when doing something, do not make such ungrounded evaluation, only this is one of the ways to get rid of obsession.
Theoretical bondage Chinese education lacks a combination of theory and practice, and children who grow and develop in this educational environment are prone to theoreticalist error tendencies. Generally speaking, this tendency is very prominent in neurotic patients. The nervousness and anxiety of neurotypicals is the “theoretical error. If these symptoms such as nervousness and anxiety are confronted, the symptoms will be aggravated, i.e., they may enter a vicious circle and produce a “negative effort”. Theoretical errors that are detached from reality often pull our way of thinking and behavior to extremes at a very fast pace. Therefore, “to solve practical problems, you cannot count on philosophy, but on practice. When you lean toward theory, the same thing, love and hate, good and evil, is very difficult to understand. But the actual situation is often much simpler than imagined, and can surpass the most difficult theories.”
The errors of theory and the laws of knowledge and practice
After no good or evil has fallen into the wrong idea, the resulting view of good and evil is something completely false and artificially fabricated. Good must be true. If one starts from the original state of one’s innocence, there is no good and evil in it.
The confusion of right and wrong is the same as the confusion of right and wrong, which is the inability to observe and think correctly. Whether it is attention or other activities, they must be in accordance with the objective situation at the time, and naturally flow forward. Often people try to arrange things in such a way from their own subjective wishes. If one could follow the natural flow of one’s mind, there would be neither conflict nor pain.
The desire to embrace a wave to eliminate a wave, a thousand waves rise one after another from the objective things of the self who can see clearly. When you judge yourself, it is difficult to understand yourself because you are facing yourself. Therefore, relying on self-understanding is not a cure. The waves on the surface of the water can no longer be removed by the waves of the water itself.
Contradiction in thought (bad wisdom) is a contradiction between the theory of “this is how it should be” and the fact that “this is how it is”. According to Morita, our subjectivity and objectivity, our emotions and knowledge, and our understanding and experience often contradict each other. This is a methodological error in rational understanding, which always erroneously assumes that rational, logical reason can solve unjustified emotional problems, and tries to solve such problems.
Don’t stick to theories. Don’t mechanically compare your situation with theories and use them to correct yourself for what is good and what is bad. It is better not to do so. It is good to go with nature and to keep the mood of spending time in peace. It is necessary to gradually understand a certain experience, and only on this basis can a correct theory be formed. If one puts theory first, one is bound to fall into the fog of error one way or the other.
Facts and Practice The problems of life cannot be solved by theories or ideals, but by facts and practice. Man needs to eat, wishes to work, and does not want to fall. The process of life lies in obedience to nature. This life without definite rules is to be lived with facts as facts and to obey it in a natural way.
The truth is the truth only the truth is true. It is the word that corresponds to emotions as a norm. To the objective fact that there is nothing you can do, you have to admit that there is nothing you can do.
Three realms
1. Restlessness is always present
Even if you feel uneasy, if you can handle it without panic, it will gradually disappear, and even if you feel uneasy, it will be as if there is no uneasiness.
Worrying about things worth worrying about means that it is useless to worry about things that are not worth worrying about, but if they are worth worrying about, it is better to worry about them.
If a person wants to live, there will always be anxiety. The greater the expectation, the greater the uneasiness, and the uneasiness is bound to exist. You want to get rid of the uneasiness, but it is pursued, you and the uneasiness to fight, it will be intensified. For the uneasiness should not be afraid to let nature take its course, and continue to do what they should do.
2, frankness
When you are called “you are shy” in front of people because of blushing and terror, it is best to open your heart and tell the truth. “In fact, I was so timid and worried that I immediately blushed no matter what the other person said. It’s a rare thing that I can’t help. I really am.” You can use this as a formula for now. Please use it again and again.
A pure heart means an honest heart, a heart that is rich in human feelings. According to Morita therapy, “the more honest you are, the faster you heal.
3.No dwelling heart
At this stage, the main experience I felt I could take away was the word “nothing”, and what I got from 50 days of rest – I don’t want to call it any kind of treatment – was also the word “nothing”. In the future, I may still be confused. But in this word “nothing” alone, there is no more confusion. It means that the state of mind varies from situation to situation, and one can even say that this phenomenon is really mysterious. In Morita therapy, it means “emotions are as easy to change as the weather; don’t be pessimistic when you are in a bad mood, and don’t rest on your laurels when things are going well, but focus on action and work hard.
Reading problems
When you read a book, you read through it only once, without thinking about what else to look for. In such a process, the general idea of the book is naturally engraved in the mind, and the interest is very strong.
The new realm of reading nowadays, but all in a situation of no attachments. Sometimes, even the contents that I read in the morning when I was in a daze and seemed to be asleep can be clearly reproduced in my mind, and even if I can’t remember something immediately at the time of reading, I feel very happy afterwards when I think about it.
Others
Status, possessions and honor,” Morita says, “Status is the most valuable thing in terms of mental and physical cultivation. Possessions are tangible or intangible materials and means to satisfy food, clothing, housing, transportation and other needs and desires. Reputation is that which has not done anything that would be a shame to the conscience. These are the three conditions in life”
Winning and Losing Go wins if you take one more square, and loses if you lack one square. Winning and losing are determined by certain conditions. If you dwell on the words of victory and defeat, you are bound to develop all kinds of mental distress. “The opponent of Go is hated, but loved”. We would love to win without missing a single frame this is the effort of life. Effort is the original nature of our life. If we give up winning or losing and trying, then life is nothing. Peace of mind is not our purpose, but peace of mind and effort is the purpose. Not being willing to dwell on the words of victory and defeat is peace of mind.
The more confused you are, the better, and the more doubtful you are, the better. The greater the ambivalence, the greater the enlightenment.
There is a saying that “we should do our own nature, human nature and material nature”. The phrase “to the best of one’s own nature” means to be truly clear about one’s own state and to live an active life with the desire to live, and to make efforts to realize oneself from now on. To “do one’s best in human nature” means to affirm the value of others and to give full play to their strengths. To “do one’s best” means to recognize the value of each thing and to enhance its value.
There is no need for a blind person to compete with a sighted person, or for a timid person to compete with a bold person. If you simply play with your talent to the fullest, you can become a Paul I or a Darwin.
The ordinary heart is the way, which means a sincere heart without selfish desires is the way one seeks.