Psychotherapy and Religion in Japan

<p>Naikan is a Japanese psychotherapeutic method which combines meditation-like body engagement with the recovery of memory and the reconstruction of one's autobiography in order to bring about healing and a changed notion of the self. </p><p>Based on original anthropological fieldwork, this fascinating book provides a detailed ethnography of Naikan in practice. In addition, it discusses key issues such as the role of memory, autobiography and narrative in health care, and the interesting borderland between religion and therapy, where Naikan occupies an ambiguous position. Multidisciplinary in its approach, it will attract a wide readership, including students of social and cultural anthropology, medical sociology, religious studies, Japanese studies and psychotherapy.</p> <p><strong>Part 1: Naikan </strong>1. Introduction: The Theory and Practice of Introspection 2. The Expansion of Naikan 3. Personal Accounts of Naikan <strong>Part 2: Therapy</strong> 4. A Confessed Therapy 5. Embodies Memory and the Reconstruction of Autobiography 6. Naikan as an Alternative to Western Therapies <strong>Part 3: Religion</strong> 7. Naikan's Shin Buddhist Legacy 8. Enclosed Silence, Sacred Space: Death in the Naikan Environment 9. Using the Body: The Role of Meditation 10. Elements of Christianity in Naikan? 11. From Salvation to Healing: Ties between Religion and Therapy <strong>Part 4: Health & Society</strong> 12. The Place of Culture in Health and Illness 13. Conclusion: Questioning the Categories of Religion and Psychotherapy</p>