SHRINKS, ETC.: A Consumer's Guide to Psychotherapies

by Thomas Kiernan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 30, 1974

The author of Oh My Aching Back (1973) more than makes sure that the reader knows that statistically one has at least as much chance of overcoming mental problems by not going to a therapist -- an argument replete with horror stories of malpractice to get the point across. Nonetheless, for those who still insist on participating in this country's most popular (and expensive) indoor hobby, Kiernan plows through the theories, methodology, and training practices of any brand of mental therapy you could name, and then some: Freud, Jung, Adler, Reich, Reik, Rank, Sullivan, Homey, Fromm, existential analysis, logotherapy, gestalt, hypnotherapy, primal therapy, rolling, encounter groups. Considering the complexity and confusions of the subject matter it is no small feat to have written a concise, readable and reasonably accurate description of psychotherapy as it is practiced today. For what it's worth the devil's advocate recommends a client-centered therapy in a behavior-modification framework, and if the book finally manages to knock How To Be Your Own Best Friend and other self-help volumes off the bestseller list, it will have done its job.

Pub Date: July 30, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION