Embarking on the New Century: The Future of Morita Therapy

By Tania Bakas  

The 11^th International Morita Therapy Congress in Vancouver, BC celebrates 100 years of Morita Therapy with scholarly contributions from around the globe.

The International Morita Therapy Congress is held every three years, this year taking place at the SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver, BC, on September 1^st and 2^nd, 2023. On August 31^st, 2023, a pre-congress introductory Seminar on the Fundamentals of Morita Therapy was also offered to registrants. Over 90 participants joined from around the globe in this hybrid in-person/virtual congress. Celebrating 100 years of Morita Therapy, the Congress theme was "Embarking on the New Century: The Future of Morita Therapy is Here".

The Congress was delivered under four interrelated sub-themes: Authenticity, Evolution, Evidence, and Access. Within these sub-themes, there were 5 keynote lectures, 16 keynote symposium presentations and 4 international roundtable discussions for the advancement of Morita Therapy. A virtual platform provided the asynchronous delivery of 23 peer-reviewed paper presentations. Overall, 9 countries were represented: Japan, Canada, Australia, USA, UK, China, Russia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Rwanda.

The Congress launched with a warm welcome and opening words from Dr. Masahiro Minami, Congress Chair and Associate Professor at Simon Fraser University, followed by opening remarks by Dr. Masafumi Mizuno, Chair of the Japanese Society for Morita Therapy, Dr. Ishu Ishiyama, Chair of the International Committee for Morita Therapy, and Dr. Soma Ganesan from the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and Chakra Clinic in Canada, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia.

The first day of the Congress focused on two of the sub-themes, Authenticity and Evolution. Presentations and discussions explored conceptions between “authentic Morita therapy” and “Morita-informed”, leading into the second theme of Evolution which examined the direction of Morita therapy as practice expands globally.

The second day of the Congress, under the sub-themes of Evidence and Access, opened with presentations and discussions examining key issues in the continued development of “evidence-based Morita therapy” and directions toward improving access to Morita therapy internationally.

Currently, the majority of Morita therapists are based in and practice in Japan. As this international symposium highlighted the opportunities and benefits to continuing the expansion of Morita therapy globally, there was an air of great enthusiasm amongst participants paired with a general understanding that much continued work and diligence will be required in taking Morita forward into its new century.

The Congress concluded with closing remarks by Dr. Ishu Ishiyama and Dr. Masahiro Minami.

Morita Therapy, as described by Moritatherapy.ca, “is an indigenous Japanese psychotherapy developed by the late Dr. Shoma Morita (1874-1938) around 1919. With its rich history, Morita therapy invites people to approach so-called "negative" feelings as natural and inevitable human responses to circumstances. It encourages people to refrain from "judging" what is natural and inevitable (such as feeling sad or anxious) as "good or bad", just as we would not judge the angle of a mountaintop, the curvature of a bonsai tree, or the speed of river flow in the same way”.

More information about the 11^th International Congress of Morita Therapy, how to access the symposium recordings and presentations, and more about Morita Therapy, may be found at www.moritatherapy.ca.