“I can already talk with my Mom and Dad”− Clinical aspects and the therapeutic power of silence − A Group Interview and Discussion about Naikan Therapy with Drug-Addicted Patients in Bulgaria

Abstract

  The paper presents a group interview and discussion about Naikan therapy as part of a follow-up study with the clients of an addiction rehabilitation daycare centre in Bulgaria. The interviewees were all the six clients of the centre at that time at an average age of 28.6 years. Of them, four are diagnosed heroin addiction, one is alcohol addict and one is amphetamine addict. Only one of the six clients participated also in the previous study. Half of them reported enhanced communication with their parents after practicing written Naikan.

  Using the information from the interview, the paper also discusses the clinical aspects and therapeutic power of silence - a broad and important issue in the context of Naikan therapy, which, the author maintains, plays a key role especially in the treatment of addictions.