A comprehensive history of psychotherapy in the United States outlines the ways in which Freud's theories are profoundly influencing mental health in America, in a chronicle that also covers such topics as psychosurgery, Gestalt therapy, and psychopharmacology. 15,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)
From Freud to Zoloft, the first comprehensive history of American psychotherapy.
Fifty percent of Americans will undergo some form of psychotherapy in their lifetimes, but the origins of the field are rarely known to patients. Yet the story of psychotherapy in America brims with colorful characters, intriguing experimental treatments, and intense debates within this community of healers.
American Therapy begins, as psychotherapy itself does, with the monumental figure of Sigmund Freud. The book outlines the basics of Freudian theory and discusses the peculiarly powerful influence of Freud on the world of American mental health. It then moves through the emergence of group therapy, the rise of psychosurgery, the evolution of uniquely American therapies such as Gestalt, rebirthing, and primal scream therapy, and concludes with the modern world of psychopharmacology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and highly targeted short-term therapies.
For a counseled nation that freely uses terms such as “emotional baggage” and no longer stigmatizes mental health care, American Therapy is a remarkable history of an extraordinary enterprise. - (Penguin Putnam)
Jonathan Engel holds a Ph.D. in the history of science and medicine from Yale, and has written extensively about the historical development of U.S. medicine and health policy. His previous books are Doctors and Reformers: Discussion and Debate Over Health Policy 1925-1950, Poor People’s Medicine: Medicaid and American Charity Care Since 1965, and The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS. A professor of health care policy and management at Seton Hall University, he lives in New Jersey. - (Penguin Putnam)
Jonathan Engel holds a Ph.D. in the history of science and medicine from Yale, and has written extensively about the historical development of U.S. medicine and health policy. His previous books areDoctors and Reformers: Discussion and Debate Over Health Policy 1925-1950,Poor People’s Medicine: Medicaid and American Charity Care Since 1965, andThe Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS. A professor of health care policy and management at Seton Hall University, he lives in New Jersey. - (Random House, Inc.)
Library Journal Reviews
Medical historian Engel (public & health-care administration, Seton Hall Univ.; Poor People's Medicine: Medicaid and American Charity Care Since 1965 ; Doctors and Reformers: Discussion and Debate over Health Policy, 1925–1950 ) writes a blunt epitaph for psychoanalysis in a plainspoken survey of mental health care in the United States over the last century. Among the special topics are child guidance, alcohol, narcotics, and narcissism (therapy as self-indulgence). To make a living, psychiatrists, who are physicians first, have increasingly focused on medication, leaving psychotherapy to psychologists and social workers. Engel explains the need for and the methods of outcome research: it shows that brief cognitive-behavioral treatment with comfortably engaged therapists, along with medication when indicated, wins the laurels. Although Engel discusses religious attitudes to therapy, he gives short shrift to family and couples therapy and pastoral counseling. An authoritative, readable book, this is highly recommended for large general libraries and collections in health and social science.—E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC
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Publishers Weekly Reviews
Since 50% of Americans will reportedly undergo some form of psychotherapy in their lifetimes, Engel, a professor of health care policy and management at Seton Hall University, presents a complete survey of the 100-year-old history of American mental health practitioners. Tracing the rise and decline of psychoanalysis in America (including the pioneering theories of homegrown talents Harry Stack Sullivan and Karen Horney), and its replacement by other, more targeted forms of therapy, this book notes that mental health treatment has become intensely consumer-oriented, tailored to finicky patients and leading to a variety of therapies such as Gestalt, rebirthing, primal scream therapy and medications like Prozac and Zoloft (though the discussion of medications fails to do justice to their complexities). Engel (The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS ) touts community mental health facilities and new progress in treatments and drugs to control addictions and mental instability. Highly informative, if a bit textbookish in tone, this is a capable introduction to the ever-changing American mental health industry and its practitioners. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Nov.)
[Page 53]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.