Psychology in Asia: A Brief Introduction to Seven Provocative Ideas

1. Psychology in Asia: A Brief Introduction to Seven Provocative Ideas Reggie Pawle, Ph.D. Website: www.reggiepawle.net Email: drreggiepawle@gmail.com Blog: https://reggiepawle.wordpress.com

2. Power Points on Blog • These power points are posted on my blog • https://reggiepawle.wordpress.com • There also are other writings on aspects of psychology in Asia

3. Welcome to Japan & Kyoto It’s spring and the cherry blossoms soon will be bursting forth!

4. 7 PROVOCATIVE IDEAS • 1) Dependency in relationship is good • 2) Free attention • 3 & 7) Mind-body relationship • (2 = Daoist and Buddhist) • 4) Use of skill instead of strength • 5) Hierarchical organization of relationships • 6) Understanding of consciousness

5. PURPOSE OF MY TALK Introduction of new ideas You don’t have to agree!!!

6. General view of psychology in Asia • Outpatient is rare • Handle your problems through: • social relations – drugs – fortune tellers – temple priests and monks • Dialogue approach is rare • Education is lectures & hierarchy • Indirect communication • Treat mental illness the same way as physical illness • There are variations among the countries

7. JAPAN

8. Japan – Therapy Methods • Hospital cure – rest therapy • Spa therapy • Meditation therapy (Seiza therapy) • Jungian therapy & sand tray has popularity

9. Japan: Collective SocietyAll Asian Countries are Collective • Cultural context of ideas of today’s talk = “collective” social life • Also called “independent/interdependent” • Hofstede, G.; Hofstede, G.; & Minkov, M. (2010).Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.

10. Hofstede: Value Dimensions • Each dimension (6 total) is a 100+ point continuum between 2 value polarities USA Japan 100% 91 46 0% |--------X--------------------------X------------------------| Individual Collective • USA = 91 = highest individual ranking • Japan = 46 = a bit more collective than individual • China = 20, Thailand = 20, India = 48 • Individuals can be very different than their culture • 74 countries surveyed

11. (1) DOI, Takeo: Amae (甘え) • One example of collective relationships • Doi, T. (1971). The anatomy of dependence. Tokyo: Kodansha International. • Doi bases his psychology on linguistic analysis • Expresses an important sense of Japanese relationships

12. Amae 甘え • = to lean on another’s good will = indulgent dependency = to be doted on = others fulfill one’s needs • = be helpless and let someone take care of you

13. Amae甘え = Indulgent Dependency • Doi – all have latent desire to amae 甘え • All people have limits – need amae 甘え • All have emotional dependency needs • All have sense of helplessness on inside • All have needs that can only be fulfilled by others • Amae 甘え = Others fulfill your needs

14. Roots of Amae 甘え • Mother-child - Hierarchical relationship • Begins latter half of 1st year of baby - fear of others • Rooted in psychological desire to belong • Upper person recognizes needs of lower person and takes care of lower person • Recognize limits of a person & helps • “Most natural thing in world for amae to exist in parent-child relationship”

15. Amae甘え = Emotional Dependency = Obligations & Sharing • Parent indulges the child – So – • Child develops obligation to parent • Contract social obligations via amae 甘え • Share through parent doing for child • --- Dependency allows for closeness in relationship --- • Opposite to idea of separation-individuation • Opposite to idea of “need-free” relationship • Need-free = no obligations in relationship

16. Amae 甘え Relationships Person A cares sense of for obligation Person B

17. Ideal Relationship • Parent-child as ideal relationship – not adult lovers • Especially mother-child - Hierarchical relationship • Passive love – different from Western ideal of active love • Rooted in psychological desire to belong • Seek to re-create dependency bonds in adult relationships

18. Ideal Relationship? • 2 equal adults or mother/child? • Active love or passive love? • Equal or hierarchical? • How do you get your needs met – Independent or Interdependent? • Which relationship is maturity?

19. (2) Morita Therapy • Founded by Shoma Morita (1874-1938) • 1st publication – 1928 • Influenced by Zen Buddhism, but Morita said it is not a Zen Buddhist therapy

20. Morita Hospital - Sansei Byoin entrance

21. What is Mental Pathology? • Dam up flow of consciousness • Fixated attention –捕われ toraware – Caught by problem • Turn attention to & fixate on mental dysfunction • Negative thoughts and feelings are symptoms

22. Negative Thoughts & Feelings • Symptoms of fixated attention • Unhappiness arises when withdraw from stream of life & reflect on life • Pushed around by momentary whims or feelings

23. Action Urge • Every emotion has an action urge • Anger = go towards the person • Fear = go away • Depression = don’t do • Anxiety = do erratically, avoid • “Pushed around by momentary whims or feelings” means to follow the action urge of the emotion in the moment

24. Pathology - Morita “Trying to control the emotional self willfully by manipulative attempts is like trying to choose a number on a thrown die or to push back the water of the Kamo River upstream. Certainly, they end up aggravating their agony and feeling unbearable pain because of their failure in manipulating the emotions.” —Shoma Morita, M.D.

25. Healing – Separate Feelings/Thoughts & Action Urge • Feeling/Thoughts + • Action = Behavior Urge

26. What is Healing? • あるがまま arugamama = accept it as-it-is • As-it-is = Zen & Japanese expression • Leave symptoms as-they-are • Leave negative thoughts & feelings as-it-is • Bring about change while accepting reality of what is • Don’t try to relieve symptoms – live with • “I am cured without being cured.”

27. What is Healing? • Free attention • Pathology is fixated attention • Attention available to be engaged as needed and appropriate • EX – need to sleep but can’t because attention is caught in worries so therefore are very tired the next day

28. What is Healing? • Don’t focus on feelings or thoughts – Direct attention to one’s activity • Do healthy activity, not action urge • Do work even if not in mood for it • “Shelve” emotions & thoughts for a while • Need free attention

29. What is Healing? • Direct one’s energy to controllable behavior • Engage life directly through one’s deeds • Purpose in doing – not the outcome • Respond appropriately in each moment

30. Basic Life Question • When is it okay to do what I feel like doing – and – when is it not okay? • Morita exercise addresses this question • Do I follow the action urge or not?

31. Morita Moment • “You mean I don’t have to fix everything first?”

32. Therapy • Re-education – teaching by therapist – so client will change thinking patterns naturally • Engaging ordinary activities • Develop ability to shift attention to activity • Don’t worry about your problems!

33. Use of Diary – pp. 38-45Reynolds, D. (1980). The Quiet Therapies: Japanese Pathways to Personal Growth. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. • Personal review of experience • Therapist comments on - Interprets & annotates • Primary education tool • Reflect on day’s events at a distance • Change thinking patterns • Separate feelings & thoughts vs. behavior

34. Morita Exercise • Make 5 columns • 1) Events during day: Waking up, breakfast, going to school, studying, attending classes, errands, etc. • 2) What I felt like doing = action urge • 3) What I did • 4) My thoughts about #1, #2, & #3 • 5) Commentary from Morita point of view

35. CHINA

36. China • Strong government support for psychology • As long as it is not political! • Everybody has to walk this line in China • Strong influence of Confucianism and Daoism

37. (3) China – Daoist InfluenceSomatic Psychology • Views of Body-Mind • Kuriyama, S. (2002). The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine. New York: Zone Books. • What is different in these 2 drawings? • Chinese – Hua Shou – 1341 Developed use of pulse in diagnosis • Belgian – Vesalius – 1543 “Father of human anatomy” in the West

38. Compare: Views of Human Body

39. Differences in Drawings • European – muscles, trim & in-shape - Muscles – organs of voluntary action - Intentions, muscular will, focus on strength & action • Chinese – acupuncture points, round - Points – natural processes, involuntary - Flexibility, energy, focus on harmony – vitality - cultivation – fullness

40. Views of the Body • Chinese body – round - Not flabby middle-age paunch - Ocean of vitality accumulated in lower abdomen - No term for “muscles” in Chinese medicine in 1341 • European body – in-shape & trim - In action, not still - Exercise personal agency thru muscles

41. Daoist Mind-Body • Instead of acting on environment – • Tune into environment • Align body and mind with life-force in nature

42. (4) Aikido (合気道） Conflict Resolution Style • Type of Japanese martial art • Based on East Asian philosophy – Buddhism, Daoism, & Shintoism • Ueshiba, K., & Ueshiba, M. (2002). (J. Stevens, Trans.). Best Aikido: The Fundamentals. Tokyo: Kodansha.

43. “Extending the Other” Exercise • When attacked – • 1) Center yourself • 2) Join with the energy & view of the other • 3) Step off the line of attack – to their side • 4) Wait for the moment when the other “loses their balance” • Pause, surprise, unexpected • 5) Assert yourself at that moment • 6) Help the other regain balance in new way

44. Applications • Response: Fight – Flight – Freeze • Many conflicts in daily life • With people who feel over-powered by the other = abuse situations, anger, couples

45. Need for Practice • A person has to establish rituals or disciplines in order to practice and strengthen the newly acquired body skills in everyday life

46. (5) Writings on Psychology & Confucianism • Self in Confucian Thought – Tu Wei-ming IN: Marsella, Anthony; Devos, George; & Hsu, Francis. (1985). Culture and self: Asian and Western perspectives. New York: Tavistock Publications, pp. 231-251. • Tseng, Wen-Shing; Chang, Suk Choo; & Nishizono, Masahisa. (eds.). (2005). Asian Culture and Psychotherapy: Implications for East and West. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

47. Chinese TherapistsRelationally & Socially Oriented • Challenge to apply to Westerners - Tend ignore importance of maintaining integration of own minds and functional families • Therapy in West – too much focus on activation of self • Integrate interpersonal & social-system aspects of Confucian thought into individually & family focused therapy • Goal: socially rooted mature individuals

48. ConfucianismPrimary Tasks of Every Person • 1) Cultivation of self • 2) Establish and maintain functional family

49. Confucian Self-cultivation • Emphasis on learning to accept any consequences with calm and ease • Keep balance & harmony deep in own mind • Make effort to use potential to improve life • Must be ready to accept any outcome with equanimity • Cultivate 5 Confucian virtues - 仁義礼智信(じんぎれいちしん) - Benevolence (& mercy), justice, courtesy, wisdom, sincerity

50. Confucian Relations • View: Individual conceptualized as relational being • Multiple loyalties & reciprocal obligations • Quanxi – mutual obligations in relationship • “No free lunch for interlocked participants” • Have a collective conscience • Understood in interrelatedness – not in their isolation • All: mutual adjusting & accommodating