Psychotherapy training is an important aspect of psychiatrist training programs. However, the present psychotherapy training system in Japan is inadequate, owing mainly to low availability. Psychotherapy includes various treatments and schools, which are broadly divided into two categories: first-level psychotherapy, or psychotherapy in a broad sense, in which all psychiatrists are trained to construct a psychotherapeutic treatment relationship with patients in everyday clinical practice; and second-level psychotherapy, or psychotherapy in a narrow sense, which is more specialized. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy, which is a second-level psychotherapy, training features supervision and regular seminars in a prominent position. Because only a therapist and a patient are involved in a psychotherapeutic exchange, the exchange has a `closed room' nature. Thus, in first-level psychotherapy training, it is important to consider a `device' for therapists to interact with `others'. Therapists use this device to discuss psychotherapeutic exchanges with other therapists. One key purpose of psychotherapy training is to allow therapists to internalize the process through accumulating dialogues with other therapists. Therapists must be able to consider the internal dialogue of other therapists.
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