The Psychological Society: A Critical Analysis of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, and the Psychological Revolution

by Martin Gross

Book Overview

Documents the failure of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in treating neuroses and mental illness and the debilitating impact of modern psychology and psychiatry on every sector of American life This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671249959
• ISBN13: 9780671249953
• Release Date: October 1979
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 369 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Psycho-colossus via grand-mother

The author warns in his book that a revolutionary change in man has taken place quietly and that it has altered the nature of our civilization beyond recognition. The major agent of change has been modern psychology as an international colossus whose professional protegé number in the hundred of thousands. Its ranks include psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, school psychologists, guidance counsellors, marriage and family therapists, educational psychologists and assorted lay therapists. As never before, he asserts, man is occupied with his Self. As such the society is much more vulnerable as any time before. Why? Because its citizens are dependent on others for guidance and are mislead as for the meaning of their emotions. "The confused citizen has tuned to the only alternative he knows: the psychological expert who claims there is a new scientific standard of behaviour to replace fading traditions. The author says that psychology replaces the religious faith. They do so substituting religion through their own belief as a promise for a better future. Psychology provides with a trained priesthood as well who profess to be the new helpers to servicing the paying-by-the-hour communicants. He also states that through psychology the traditional concept of sin is becoming obsolete: "the medio-psychological concept of sick has replaced it almost intact. We now speak glibly of murderers... as being sick or neurotic." Freud also gets his share: "Freud`s atheistic ideas have paradoxically influenced ministers, priest and rabbis who now flock to courses in pastoral counselling." Only psychology can divine mans secret motivations and reveal the elusive why of the strange human animal. Why are so many people ready to believe the most modern religions priests? The author has an answer for it: "To egocentric modern man, the prospect of Self instead of God seated at the center of a world philosophical system is exquisitely attractive." The old story in modern clothes. Man himself wants to be God and psychology supports this wish. What an alarming book! This is no book for the advocates of psychotherapy, indeed. Should all about psychology be a fraud? Not all of it! Grandmothers can be very good psychologists! Talking and listening is not always bad. Talking and listening competently is even better! Give reasonable advice and share sophisticated experience and its lessons. If you call that psychology, granted. Do you need a psychologist for this? Go sure, he is an expert grandmother!