Off the couch

Off the couch:After 40 years -- and more than $100,000 in bills -- I finally gave up on the talking cure.

In this piece, Meredith Maran writes:

... Dr. Tana Dineen, a Canadian psychologist and the author of "Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People," describes her book as an "apology for almost 30 years (as a practicing psychotherapist) of biting my lip about the role psychologists are playing in society." I e-mailed Dineen to ask how she sees that role. "Most psychotherapists are well meaning but naive," she wrote back. "They harbor the illusion that (1) they are fighting injustice when, in fact, they generally operate in a manner which fits the politically acceptable motif of the moment and (2) they are helping people to heal or feel better when they may be debilitating them or turning them into satisfied customers. While psychotherapy can mean virtually anything, it is portrayed as something that will make not only the individual but also society better, healthier, more peaceful, more fulfilled, and more utopian.

"Psychotherapy is chameleon in nature," Dineen added. "There has been for over a century now a continuous shift in fads, theories, and therapies. Whoever sells the psychological cures of the day claims that the old ones were bad and that the ones they sell -- usually described as the newest, the best, and the most scientifically proven on the market today -- will surely work. So, the old warning 'buyer beware' should be extended to consumers considering any form of psychotherapy."

Read the whole article on salon.com




		*Off the couch:*After 40 years -- and more than $100,000 in bills -- I finally gave up on the talking cure. In this piece, Meredith Maran writes: ... Dr. Tana Dineen, a Canadian psychologist and the author of "Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People," describes her book as an "apology for almost 30 years (as a practicing psychotherapist) of biting my lip about the role psychologists are playing in society." I e-mailed Dineen to ask how she sees that role. "Most psychotherapists are well meaning but naive," she wrote back. "They harbor the illusion that (1) they are fighting injustice when, in fact, they generally operate in a manner which fits the politically acceptable motif of the moment and (2) they are helping people to heal or feel better when they may be debilitating them or turning them into satisfied customers. While psychotherapy can mean virtually anything, it is portrayed as something that will make not only the individual but also society better, healthier, more peaceful, more fulfilled, and more utopian. "Psychotherapy is chameleon in nature," Dineen added. "There has been for over a century now a continuous shift in fads, theories, and therapies. Whoever sells the psychological cures of the day claims that the old ones were bad and that the ones they sell -- usually described as the newest, the best, and the most scientifically proven on the market today -- will surely work. So, the old warning 'buyer beware' should be extended to consumers considering any form of psychotherapy." Read the whole article on salon.com

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