Introduction on the Emotion-Will Overcoming Therapy (EWOT): A Novel Alternative Approach of Psychological Treatment from Chinese Medicine

Emotional disorders and mental illnesses constitute a significant part of diseases. In Chinese medicine, emotional disorders and mental illnesses are classified as emotion-will (Qing Zhi) disorders. Emotion-will, i.e. seven emotions (Qi Qing: happiness, anger, anxiety, pensiveness, sorrow, fear, and fright) and five wills (Wu Zhi: happiness, anger, thinking, sorrow, and fear), play a basic role in the onset, progress and prognosis of almost all diseases, not only the mental illnesses. The emotion-will overcoming therapy (EWOT) is defined as a psychological approach that a therapist employs single or multiple emotions to overcome and eliminate patients’ abnormal morbid emotions and to heal mind-body disorders derived from the abnormality. EWOT lays a foundation for the philosophical foundation of Chinese medicine, i.e. Yin and Yang, and five elements, which is believed to be the most commonly utilized and effective modality in dealing with mental illnesses. This essay covers the origin and development, underlying mechanism, clinical application, basic researches of emotion-will system and EWOT and the comparison with conventional therapies. Thus, EWOT could draw more attention in the field of psychology and spread in clinical practice.