Shoma Morita

The Unquiet Mind: Morita Therapy

The quest for inner peace and contentment, for an escape from the stress and anxieties of the modern world, often leads us to seek to understand the root causes of our distress, to challenge our distorted thoughts, to unearth repressed memories, and to numb our intense emotions. But what if the path to peace lay not in dissecting our thoughts and controlling our emotions, but in observing them dispassionately, and then simply acting? This is the profound insight offered by Shoma Morita early in the 20th Century, a Japanese psychiatrist whose pioneering work, Morita Therapy, offers a striking counterpoint to many of our deeply ingrained notions about mental well-being.

Born into the Meiji era, a period of dramatic Westernization in Japan, Morita himself struggled with debilitating anxiety and neurotic symptoms in his youth. His personal torment became the inspiration for his clinical philosophy. He was a contemporary of Freud, and while both sought to alleviate suffering, their approaches were significantly different. Where Freud delved into the unconscious, Morita turned his attention towards conscious experience and behaviour. He saw patients afflicted by shinkeishitsu, a unique Japanese diagnostic category encompassing anxiety disorders, phobias, and obsessive tendencies, often characterized by a strong desire to eliminate unpleasant feelings.

Morita's insight was that the struggle against unpleasant feelings is precisely what perpetuates them. His therapy, developed in the early 20th century, does not aim to eradicate anxiety, but to reframe one's relationship with it. He stated, "We should not try to control our emotions, but rather let them be as they are. Emotions are like the weather; they come and go." This concept, influenced by Zen Buddhist principles, encourages an acceptance of all internal states.

Key Principles of Morita Therapy

Morita Therapy is a structured, residential based, four-stage approach focused on changing behaviour rather than altering feelings. Its core principles emphasize the naturalness of emotions and the importance of purposeful action:

1. The Naturalness of Feelings (順応, Jun'nō)

Morita viewed emotions, whether pleasant or painful, as natural phenomena (like the weather) that arise and pass according to their own rules. The goal is to recognize that feelings are beyond our direct, conscious control. Trying to force an emotion to stop (e.g., trying to stop being anxious) is futile and causes greater suffering.

2. Arugamama: Acceptance of Reality As It Is (あるがまま)

This is the core concept of acceptance, closely tied to Zen. Arugamama means accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and symptoms non-judgmentally, without trying to change them. It's an active acceptance of reality, not passive resignation. The therapist helps the patient decouple the emotional distress from the objective reality of the situation.

3. Purposeful Action Over Emotional Control (行動, Kōdō)

This is the behavioural cornerstone of Morita Therapy. Patients are encouraged to focus on what needs to be done (their responsibilities, goals, or tasks) in the external world, irrespective of their current emotional state. If you feel anxious but need to work, you work. This action shifts attention away from self-preoccupation and breaks the cycle of trying to 'feel good' before acting. Morita stressed the concept of "doing the necessary" (必要を為す, hitsuyō o nasu).

4. The Law of Mental Function (精神の法則, Seishin no Hōsoku)

Morita noted a paradox in the human condition: the more you try to suppress an emotion, the stronger it becomes. Conversely, feelings often follow action. By engaging in purposeful activity, even while anxious, the feelings of satisfaction or competence eventually emerge, diminishing the anxiety's influence and can change your emotional state.

Therapeutic Stages and Modern Influence

The early application of Morita Therapy was different from past Western and contemporary psychotherapy. Patients would often begin with a period of absolute rest in isolation, sometimes for a week, forbidden from speaking, reading, or engaging in any activity. This stage of treatment was designed to heighten their awareness of internal sensations and the natural ebb and flow of their minds. Following this, patients gradually engaged in productive physical activities, such as chopping wood, tending gardens, cleaning, starting with everyday tasks that might initially seem unpleasant or mundane. The crucial directive was to focus on the task at hand, to act with purpose, regardless of how one felt.

This emphasis on purposeful action is the basis of Morita Therapy. If you are anxious about public speaking, a Morita therapist is unlikely to ask you to delve into the origins of your fear or to challenge its rationality. Instead, they would instruct you to prepare your speech, to practice, and to deliver it—all while accepting the presence of anxiety as a natural, albeit unpleasant, companion. The goal is not to feel calm before acting, but to recognize that calm often follows action, and that sometimes, calm doesn't come at all, and that's okay too.

Elements of Morita Therapy can be seen in many modern psychotherapies. One example is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which advocates for psychological flexibility, mindful acceptance of difficult thoughts and feelings, and committing to values-driven action. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), while more focused on cognitive restructuring, also shares Morita Therapy’s focus on behavioural change as a pathway to psychological well-being. The many mindfulness-based psychotherapies also appear to be following in the footsteps of Morita therapy.

In our modern world where we are encouraged to overthinking, to pursue happiness as a constant emotional state, Shoma Morita's century-old therapy approach feels remarkably different and relevant.