Against Therapy

Against Therapy: Emotional Tyranny and the Myth of Psychological Healing is a 1988 book by author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, in which the author argues against the practice of psychotherapy. The work was criticized by reviewers.

Against Therapy
Cover of the first edition
AuthorJeffrey Moussaieff Masson
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPsychotherapy
PublisherCommon Courage Press
Publication date
1988
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages340
ISBN1-56751-022-1

Summary

Masson argues that psychotherapy is a form of socially sanctioned abuse.

According to Masson, therapists ask patients to do more than is reasonably possible, they "distort another person's reality" to try to change people in ways that conform to the therapist's concepts and prejudices. Therapists are, in Masson's opinion, inevitably corrupted by power and "abuse of one form or another is built into the very fabric of psychotherapy".

Reception

Time wrote, "Although the author's slash-and-burn style of argument can be entertaining, readers should keep their hands on their wallets. Assertions tend to be sold as established facts."[1] The New York Times argued that "Masson has failed to put a stake through the heart of therapy—in fact, he's greatly missed the mark."[2] Psychiatric Times called Against Therapy "a "battle cry" for the abolition of psychotherapy".[3]

References
  1. Gray, Paul (22 August 1988). "The Shrink Has No Clothes". TIME. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  2. Collins, Glenn (13 November 1988). "Back alleys of psychodynamics". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  3. Lothane, Z (1 December 1996). "Psychoanalytic Method and the Mischief of Freud-Bashers". Psychiatric Times. 13 (12).
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