このたび、2012年11月16日(金)から18日(日)までの三日間、東京大学本郷キャンパスにおきまして第30回日本森田療法学会を開催する運びとなりました。

森田療法は、1919年に森田正馬が創始した我が国独自の精神療法(心理療法)であり、現在では医療の分野から一般のメンタルヘルス、教育の分野にまで広く応用されるようになりました。また、近年、認知行動療法の発展とともに森田療法との関係性が各方面から再認識されています。

こうした背景に鑑み、このたびの第30回日本森田療法学会では、テーマを「森田療法と認知行動療法の交流と発展―比較文化の観点から」とし、記念の回にふさわしい充実したプログ ラムと800名を越える多数の参加者を予定し鋭意準備を進めております。会場は、第30回という節目の年を迎えるにあたり森田正馬の母校である東京大学を、メイン会場はその物理的・精神的中心である安田講堂を選びました。

日本の最先端研究の象徴であると同時に学術研究の歴史を象徴する東京大学安田講堂を舞台として、森田療法の伝統と歴史、その100年におよぶ研究成果と最新研究に、近年注目を浴びる認知行動療法からの視点を交え、日本の心理療法の地平に新たな知見と光を生み出す刺戟的な会にできればと願っております。

招待講演や特別講演、シンポジウムなどの企画を通し、伝統の中の新しさと新しさの中の伝 統を縦軸とし、日本と西欧の交差を横軸として、その経緯の中に現在の到達点と問題点を位置づけるとともに、多彩な参加者の皆様による積極的な討議を奥行に加え、森田療法と認知行動療法の交流と発展を立体的に浮き彫りにすることが可能になると確信しております。

精神疾患が5大疾病のひとつに数えられる時代において、森田療法や認知行動療法をはじめとする心理療法への期待はますます高まっています。そうした高まりの中、第30回日本森田療法学会は学会としての区切りの回であるだけでなく、森田療法の「これまで」を再確認する場であり、「これから」を位置づける場として重要な年となります。

森田療法の新たな地平が2012年ここ安田講堂から開けます。

 

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Conference Chair's Message

 

About Hosting the 30th Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for Morita Therapy

 

It is with great pleasure that I announce the 30th Annual Conference of the Japanese Society for Morita Therapy to be held at the University of Tokyo (Hongō Campus), a three-day program from November 16th to 18th, 2012.

Morita therapy was developed by the late Dr. Shōma Morita around 1919 and is considered Japan's original psychotherapy. Its application has gone beyond the traditional medical domain of psychiatry to clinical practices in community mental health and educational settings. Today, the development of cognitive-behavioural therapies is being marked by further recognition of the relationship between that and Morita therapy. Therefore, we have decided to call this year's conference theme the Interaction between and Advancements in Morita Therapy and CognitiveBehavioural Therapies: From a Comparative Cultural Viewpoint.

The organizing committee has been working hard to develop a rich and exciting conference program to mark the 30th anniversary of this annual conference, and is expecting to attract over 800 participants. The University of Tokyo, of which Dr. Morita (1874-1938) was an alumnus, has been chosen as the venue for this landmark conference. The main conference events site is the Yasuda Auditorium; it is physically and symbolically the University's central structure to

represent the latest research and intellectual advancements. It has served historically as the centre of scholarly activities in Japan. As such, we sincerely hope that this conference will inspire the participants, generate new knowledge, and orient us to the horizon of Japanese psychotherapies through integrating Morita therapy, which has a 100-year old history and tradition, and cognitive-behavioural therapies developed more recently in the West.

We firmly believe that through the guest lectures, special lectures, and symposia, we can multi-dimensionally explore the interaction and development between Morita therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapies. It is hoped that this conference will be able to offer a full-view of where we are now and where our future tasks lie. This will be achieved by placing "the latest in the traditional" and "the traditional in the latest" as the vertical axis, and by exploring

interaction between Japanese and Western cultures as the horizontal axis. Further as the third dimension, depth will be added to the conference through delegates' and presenters' active participation and interactive dialogues.

We have observed increased public interest in psychotherapies, such as Morita therapy and cognitive behavioural therapies, and their treatment effectiveness in this era of the prominence of mental illnesses as one of the five major human ailments. With this trend in mind, the 30th annual Morita therapy conference may become not only a memorial event to recognize what has been accomplished ("so-far" of Morita therapy), but also an important year to envision what will be emerging ("from-now" of Morita therapy). The new horizon of Morita therapy will reveal itself in 2012 from here at the Yasuda Auditorium.