ABSTRACT
Mental health is a significant social and public health problem in China. A recent epidemiological survey in four Chinese provinces showed that the prevalence of a current mental disorder in adults was greater than seventeen per cent in 2001–2005. This chapter uses the development of psychoanalytic psychotherapy at Shanghai Mental Health Centre (SMHC) as an example illustrating its benefits for China, and the difficulties and obstacles it encounters in Chinese culture. SMHC, one of China’s leading psychiatric hospitals, was founded in 1958. Its predecessor, Mercy Hospital, was established in 1935. The psychodynamic group psychotherapy has been conducted in SMHC, and several psychiatrists were given weekly group supervision on their group therapy by Prof. The Chinese society has become more tolerant of pre-marital sexual activity, cohabitation, extramarital affairs, and even homosexual behaviour.
