The Myth of Psychotherapy: Mental Healing as Religion, Rhetoric, and Repression

Until recent years, “bad” and “immoral” were terms used to describe people who are now referred to as “sick” and “in need of treatment.” Moral and religious perspectives have been clearly replaced by medical and therapeutic rhetoric. It is little wonder that the world is plagued by legions of rapists, drug users, murderers, thieves, child abusers—you name it—all of whom are now referred to as having one form or another of “addiction,” and are thus either “sick” or suffering from “mental illness.” Accordingly, modern psychotherapists claim that these are in need of specialized “therapy” or “treatment,” to help them “cope with their disease.” Moral relativism-bolstered by psychotherapy-has prevailed over the traditional ideas of self-control, individual responsibility, and moral culpability.Thomas Szasz moves to demythologize psychotherapy itself, and he does it in a most provocative manner.