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On the Myth of Psychotherapy

French, Craig

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Abstract

Thomas Szasz famously argued that mental illness is a myth. Less famously, Szasz argued that since mental illness is a myth, so too is psychotherapy. Szasz’ claim that mental illness is a myth has been much discussed, but much less attention has been paid to his claim
that psychotherapy is a myth. In the first part of this essay, I critically examine Szasz’ discussion of psychotherapy in order to uncover the strongest version of his case for thinking that it is a myth. As we’ll see, this involves an understanding of psychotherapeutic interventions as treatments of psychopathological problems. In the rest of this essay, I turn to this directly and argue that psychotherapy has an important non-pathocentric dimension. I argue that we fail to appreciate the nature and variety of psychotherapy if we concentrate only on its pathocentric dimensions. Though I use Szasz as a stalking horse, the substantive topic is the nature of psychotherapy. This enquiry falls into the philosophy of psychotherapy as distinct from the philosophy of psychiatry and the philosophy of psychoanalysis.

Citation

French, C. (in press). On the Myth of Psychotherapy. Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology,

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 5, 2024
Deposit Date Nov 6, 2024
Publicly Available Date Nov 7, 2024
Journal Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology
Print ISSN 1071-6076
Electronic ISSN 1086-3303
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Keywords psychotherapy, psychopathology, Szasz, grief
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/41549554
Publisher URL https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy-psychiatry-psychology

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