The Influence of a Roommate’s Interview on the Subject of Naikan Therapy −A report from participants in a Naikan Therapy Training Program−

Abstract

  The writer participated in a Naikan Therapist training program provided by Yamato Naikan Research Institute. During the training, the writer intuitively recognized that his answers to the 3 questions of the Naikan interview were influenced by his roommate’s interview. In the Naikan Therapist training program, a trainee is required to alternate between listening to other participant’s interviews and to focus upon his own introspection（‘Naikan’）.In this unique circumstance, what effect do theNaikan interviews of other participants have upon the trainee?

The writer held a meeting to hear from other trainees. Having analyzed two episodes abstracted from the feedback from attendees of the meeting, two key phrases emerged: 1 −“a Naikan interviewee substitutes himself for the interviewer”（the words of Ishin Yoshimoto）;and 2 −“Synchronicity.”

Considering this analysis and the characteristics of the Naikan method, the circumstance of a Naikan Therapist trainee in which he alternately listens to others and does his own Naikan, can be described as‘spiritually rich space’that creates an accelerated cycle of Naikan through the inspiration received from other roommates’ interviews. At the same time, however, the trainee should be aware of some risks associated with this situation.