Psychotherapy in historical perspective

History of the Human Sciences 30 (2):3-16 (2017)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This article will briefly explore some of the ways in which the past has been used as a means to talk about psychotherapy as a practice and as a profession, its impact on individuals and society, and the ethical debates at stake. It will show how, despite the multiple and competing claims about psychotherapy’s history and its meanings, historians themselves have, to a large degree, not attended to the intellectual and cultural development of many therapeutic approaches. This absence has the potential consequence of implying that therapies have emerged as value-free techniques, outside of a social, economic and political context. The relative neglect of psychotherapy, by contrast with the attention historians have paid to other professions, particularly psychiatry, has also underplayed its societal impact. This article will foreground some of the instances where psychotherapy has become an object of emerging historical interest, including the new research that forms the substance of this special issue of History of the Human Sciences.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 97,060

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Psychotherapy in Europe.Sarah Marks - 2018 - History of the Human Sciences 31 (4):3-12.
The History and Ethics of the Therapeutic Relationship.Ulrich Koch & Kelso Cratsley - 2021 - In Trachsel Manuel, Şerife Tekin, Nikola Biller-Adorno, Jens Gaab & John Sadler (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics. Oxford University Press. pp. 65-84.
Institutional Psychotherapy Does Not Exist!Olivier Apprill - 2023 - Deleuze and Guattari Studies 17 (2):169-182.
Philosophy and Psychotherapy.Edward Erwin - 1997 - SAGE Publications.

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-07-21

Downloads
50 (#342,433)

6 months
17 (#259,587)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Sarah Marks
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor