The Case Against Psychoanalysis

by Andrew Salter

Salter uses Freud's own words, as well as those of his followers, to discredit psychotherapy's imaginary science.

Genres: Psychology

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short overview of the history of psychoanalysis from the 1950s detailing its history of failure with a lot of quotations taken straight from Freud demonstrating the crudity of his psychological sexual reductionism. Practically it can only function as an expensive scam, it didn't deal with normal people and if it did it would make them insane since you can always inject all those invented "complexes" into their minds. It got popular because the literati have always been "neurotic" so many got analysed and wrote much about it and their hanger ons picked up on it from there and that's how it got trendy. Freud's real great achievement was breaking down the Victorian attitude on the topics of fucking and shitting.
Freuds technique is exemplified by how he came to understand the universal penis envy held by all female children i.e. not by means of observation of female children but by suggestions he provided to adult women which they admitted to being the case in their past. Freud's entire structure of mind can't be used to uncover any actual real life history for any individual but can always interpolate a nasty sexual unconscious. His entire understanding was also based on a pre-genetic understanding of actual organically heritable symbolism within people.
That Freud's ideas on parenting and understanding others became so popular in mid-20th century America is interesting to say the least. The author places a little to much hope on Pavlov's ideas as an alternative for therapy.