American Therapy: The Rise of Psychotherapy in the United States - Hardcover

Engel, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1592403808 ISBN 13: 9781592403806

Publisher: Gotham, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

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 of Health Policy 1925- 1950, Poor PeopleĀ’s Medicine: American Charity Care Since 1965, and The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS. He is a professor of health care policy and management at Seton Hall University.

From Publishers Weekly:

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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gotham
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1592403808
• ISBN 13: 9781592403806
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368