On the Myth of Psychotherapy

French, Craig

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