Morita Therapy: An introduction and more 

Registration is now open. Download the booking form.

Presenters: Naoki Watanabe, MD and Peg LeVine, EdD, PhD
Date: Friday, 5 February 2010
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Location: Monash Asia Institute, Monash University Caulfield Campus, Building H, Level 5

Professor Naoki Watanabe, MD is a psychiatrist and psychologist, with a reputation as world expert in suicide prevention and intervention in rural health in Japan. In his private practice, he specialises in treating eating dis-orders, and trauma following natural and human-made disasters; also, he uses music therapy in his practice. Dr Watanabe is Professor of International Studies at Kansai University, and a Morita scholar.

A/Professor Peg LeVine, EdD, PhD is a Senior Fellow with Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, and coordinator of Rural Mental Health at the University of Tasmania. Peg is a seasoned scholar/practitioner of Morita Therapy, and was trained and supervised for over a decade by the late Akihisa Kondo, MD. She is a medical anthropologist and clinical psychologist, and works in SE Asia with a focus on culture-specific trauma. She has a clinical practice in Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.

Morita Shoma, MD (psychiatrist) (1874-1938) designed his therapy as a four-stage homecare treatment for anxiety. Morita was a contemporary of Freud and his treatment has been established with evidence-based outcomes for over 60 years. Morita created a highly structured form of residential care consisting of four stages. The first stage consists of silence and rest. Later stages employ diary writing, nature study, art activity, gardening, fish and small animal care, group cooking, and so on.

Though some have compared Morita therapy to Mindfulness CBT, Morita’s therapy is evidence-based in Asia and indigenous to Japan and has its origins in Zen, Shinto-ism and Medicine with a sophisticated theory on human development that informs psycho-social assessment and treatment.

Today, the classical treatment is applied in public and private hospitals in Japan, and has extended to Australia, China, Korea, Russia, the USA and Canada and more recently in developing regions in SE Asia. Also, Morita theory has become part of postgraduate counseling psychology coursework in North America and parts of Asia.

The presenters will offer some case material from their practices during the course of the workshop, with a particular focus on use of Morita therapy in the treatment of trauma.

For further information contact:
Dr Peg LeVine at peg.levine@adm.monash.edu.au
Supported by Monash Asia Institute and the LeKond Institute (which comprises the Australian Association for Morita Therapy)

Reservation is required.
Cost: $190.00
Those attending the workshop who want to attend the Morita Congress will be granted Earlybird Conference Rates.

Registration is now open. Download the booking form.