Naikan

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · Yoshimoto Ishin · 1941 · Yamatokōriyama, Nara, Japan

What it is

Format

• Formats
• Intensive Naikan (shūchū naikan). Residential, one week: 6–7 nights, about 15–16 hours of reflection a day. A WCPRR case ran eight days and seven nights.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• One German coaching source states that Naikan does not replace psychotherapy. It says practitioners with diagnoses need adequate self-regulation, and severe past experiences need specific psychotherapy.
• Version followed: classical intensive Naikan (shūchū naikan, 集中内観) as run in Yoshimoto-lineage centres in Japan (Nara Naikan Training Center; Rengein temple centre, Kumamoto), plus daily Naikan (nichijō naikan, 日常内観). For outpatient and daily formats, the Western adaptation of the ToDo Institute (Gregg Krech, Vermont, USA) is used and labelled as such. Where centres differ (age blocks, time split between the…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Elation or crash on re-entry. Plan follow-up contact.
• This turning into blaming oneself for having needs at all (see section 5).
• Choosing the most painful relationship first. Start with a less charged one.
• Very long, self-condemning entries. Check mood. Avoidance shown by blank pages.
• Use it as a low-intensity entry point for clients not ready to reflect on people.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.