American Therapy: The Rise of Psychotherapy in the United States

American Therapy: The Rise of Psychotherapy in the United States

Jonathan Engel

Language: English

Pages: 368

ISBN: 1592403808

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


From Freud to Zoloft, the first comprehensive history of American Psychotherapy

Fifty percent of Americans will undergo some form of psychotherapy in their lifetimes, but the origins of the field are rarely known to patients. Yet the story of psychotherapy in America brims with colorful characters, intriguing experimental treatments, and intense debates within this community of healers.

American Therapy begins, as psychotherapy itself does, with the monumental figure of Sigmund Freud. The book outlines the basics of Freudian theory and discusses the peculiarly powerful influence of Freud on the world of American mental health. The book moves through the emergence of group therapy, the rise of psychosurgery, the evolution of uniquely American therapies such as Gestalt, rebirthing, and primal scream therapy, and concludes with the modern world of psychopharmacology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and highly targeted short-term therapies.

For a counseled nation that freely uses terms such as “emotional baggage” and no longer stigmatizes mental health care, American Therapy is a remarkable history of an extraordinary enterprise.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

The ABCs of Human Behavior: Behavioral Principles for the Practicing Clinician

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home

Character Analysis (3rd Edition)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

as cited in ibid., p. 32. 21 Lee Birk and Ann Brinkley-Birk, “Psychoanalysis and Behavior Therapy,” American Journal of Psychiatry 131:5 (May 1974) : 503. 22 Joseph Adelson, “Not Much Has Changed Since Freud,” New York Times, 9/27/81. 23 “The Head Man,” Washington Post Magazine, 8/7/83. 24 Blaine Harden,“The Analyst,” Washington Post Magazine, 11/22/81. 25 Gross, The Psychological Society, p. 203. 26 Quoted in ibid., p. 204. 27 Gerald Klerman, “The Psychiatric Patient’s Right to Effective

Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1974. Moreno, J. L. The First Book of Group Psychotherapy. New York: Beacon House, 1957. Mullan, H., and M. Rosenbaum. Group Psychotherapy. New York : Free Press, 1962. Muncie, W. S. Psychology and Psychiatry St. Louis: Mosby, 1939. Murphy, G. Historical Introduction to Modern Psychology. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1949. Nyswander, M. The Drug Addict as a Patient. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1956. O’Connell, A. N., and N. F. Russo, eds. Models of Achievement:

How so? Ellis: Very simply: you’d gain experience. For if you tried and were rejected, you’d know not to try it with that girl, or in that way, again. Then you could go on to try again with some other girl, or with the same girl in a different way, and so on. Patient: Maybe you’ve got something there. Notice that in the sequence, Ellis did not emphasize the source of the man’s sense of inadequacy and fear of rejection. Although in earlier sessions Ellis had elicited information about the man’s

to expose the “invisible interactions” between the members of the groups to help them understand the nature of healthy adult relationships.61 Patients soon discovered that if they insisted on remaining aloof and emotionally removed from the demands of members of the group, they would make little progress themselves. Hugh Mullan and Max Rosenbaum, two noted group therapists practicing in the 1950s, observed that as members of the group strengthened their commitment to one another, they welcomed

psychotherapists of other persuasions who focused almost exclusively on individual growth at the expense of family and society.121 Social workers in private practice spoke of “restoring family equilibrium,” repairing damaged marriages, helping children with issues of adjustment, and helping individuals function in demanding circumstances.122 While their world drew on the principles of the interpersonal and humanistic psychotherapies of Sullivan and Rogers, they claimed that their styles were

Download sample

Download