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Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Sides of Science and Therapy
Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Sides of Science and Therapy explores the dark sides of psychology, the science that penetrates almost every area of our lives. It must be read by everyone who has an interest in psychology, by all those who are studying or intend to study psychology, and by present and potential clients of psychotherapists. This book will tell you which parts of psychology are supported by scientific evidence, and which parts are simply castles built on sand. This is the first book which comprehensively covers all mistakes, frauds and abuses of academic psychology, psychotherapy, and psycho-business.
306 pages, Paperback
First published January 29, 2015
18 people are currently reading
540 people want to read
About the author
Tomasz Witkowski
28 books62 followersDr Tomasz Witkowski is a psychologist and science writer. He is the founder of the Polish Skeptics Club and specializes in debunking pseudoscience, particularly in the field of psychology, psychotherapy, and diagnosis. He is the author of numerous books dozens of scientific papers and over 100 popular articles (some of them are published in Skeptical Inquirer). As an expert in science-pseudoscience issues, he is frequently called by the media to comment on frauds and abuses witnessed in psychology, psychotherapy and other areas of scientific activity. In 2010 awarded as a Rationalist of the Year in Poland.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 19, 2016
NLP is a bullshit con. Researchers pulling numbers out their asses and making up data? This type of thing happens in Science. The difference? Freud's basic tenants have been disproved and shown in many cases to be made up. The best advise. Use behavioral cognitive therapy. It is reliable and valid. Well written and very readable. It is easier understood if you have a background in Psychology. I work in the field and see a lot of this nonsense first hand.
February 7, 2015
A brilliant book, written by a physician and a psychologist - both practicing, publishing and with significant scientific experience. You can clearly see that they understand how science should be done; they have also witnessed how it is done in reality. This is probably not the most popular voice in the world filled with psychotherapists, where bookshelves are loaded with tons of useless self-help manuals. This book is a story on how psychology gained a respected (and according to authors - undeserved) position in academia and mass media. This is a history of fraud and scientific abuse. It will not appeal to everyone, but everyone should read it.
Authors spent a long time researching the topics that they cover in their book. Every story, every claim and every information is properly reference with solid evidence.
I would recommend this piece to EVERY psychology student and EVERY person who used, uses or intends to use any form of psychological help or support.
This book can be an eye-opener. No only on how weak many psychotherapies are, but also on a completely different level. It shows how easy it is to manipulate science, and how poor scientific reporting is. Get it and read it now - it's worth every minute of your time.
Authors spent a long time researching the topics that they cover in their book. Every story, every claim and every information is properly reference with solid evidence.
I would recommend this piece to EVERY psychology student and EVERY person who used, uses or intends to use any form of psychological help or support.
This book can be an eye-opener. No only on how weak many psychotherapies are, but also on a completely different level. It shows how easy it is to manipulate science, and how poor scientific reporting is. Get it and read it now - it's worth every minute of your time.
July 11, 2019
Psychology Gone Wrong should be a part of every undergraduate course in Psychology. I say this, not because I believe Psychology is completely worthless, but because the young minds of tomorrow need to be committed to weeding out what is worthless pseudoscience from what is actually helpful and beneficial. Argument from authority is rife within the field, and questioning "age old techniques" is met with criticism and hostility. This book is also beneficial to anyone undergoing long-term therapy, and may lead you to reevaluate who you are seeing, and what you are focusing on. I do believe the book should be read with as must scepticism and critical thinking as the authors afford others, but the call for better science in Psychology is one that I believe rings true. Best part: research, evidence, and examples showing problem within science and psychology which are actionable. What I thought was lacking: A chapter dedicated to what is good science in psychology and a summary of the problems with proposed solutions to leave readers with a starting point in addressing the problems that exist.
June 7, 2016
Important book looks under all the rocks and dark slimy things scurry out.
If you have any contact at all with psychology, as a consumer or professional, it behooves you to understand this material.
That said, my problem with this book is the ponderous language. English is not the author's first language and it shows in odd constructions and convoluted paragraphs.
This is not a casual read. I'm above average intelligence (well, way above average, actually) and found it a slog.
Plus side: extensively footnoted, each chapter.
This about two steps above what i would call and easy consumer read.
First part is about problems with current scientific research and publishing in academia.
The rest deals with psychology and the field of therapy.
If you have any contact at all with psychology, as a consumer or professional, it behooves you to understand this material.
That said, my problem with this book is the ponderous language. English is not the author's first language and it shows in odd constructions and convoluted paragraphs.
This is not a casual read. I'm above average intelligence (well, way above average, actually) and found it a slog.
Plus side: extensively footnoted, each chapter.
This about two steps above what i would call and easy consumer read.
First part is about problems with current scientific research and publishing in academia.
The rest deals with psychology and the field of therapy.
April 24, 2016
This well-referenced illumination of the dark side of psychology and psychotherapy (which according to the psychiatrist Fuller Torrey is "the world's second oldest profession, remarkably similar to the first...") will overhaul your thoughts on the field almost as much as the field itself needs an overhaul.
The prominent Polish sceptics Witkowski and Zatonski expose just how much of psychology is a mental hospital built on sand, and that sand is a mixture of dubious research, anti-science sentiments, and several truckloads of the imaginings of Sigmund Fraud (excuse the Freudian slip). The authors then use the wrecking ball of reason to demolish the many pseudoscientific wards of the metaphorical hospital, such as the one devoted to recovered memory therapy and the mythological idea that early childhood experiences are formative.
Before I destroy the castle-built-on-sand metaphor any further let me just say that everyone should read this book. And as the noted memory-expert Elizabeth Loftus writes in her blurb, "those who don't care really need to read it". The less sceptically-inclined among us, who would presumably be less interested in this book, are the very ones who are more likely to cause harm as therapists, and be harmed as patients.
In her review (available on the Science-Based Medicine website) "The SkepDoc" Harriet Hall writes: "Therapy can do real harm and can lead to suicide. It encourages dependence, false optimism, and externalized responsibility."
The prominent Polish sceptics Witkowski and Zatonski expose just how much of psychology is a mental hospital built on sand, and that sand is a mixture of dubious research, anti-science sentiments, and several truckloads of the imaginings of Sigmund Fraud (excuse the Freudian slip). The authors then use the wrecking ball of reason to demolish the many pseudoscientific wards of the metaphorical hospital, such as the one devoted to recovered memory therapy and the mythological idea that early childhood experiences are formative.
Before I destroy the castle-built-on-sand metaphor any further let me just say that everyone should read this book. And as the noted memory-expert Elizabeth Loftus writes in her blurb, "those who don't care really need to read it". The less sceptically-inclined among us, who would presumably be less interested in this book, are the very ones who are more likely to cause harm as therapists, and be harmed as patients.
In her review (available on the Science-Based Medicine website) "The SkepDoc" Harriet Hall writes: "Therapy can do real harm and can lead to suicide. It encourages dependence, false optimism, and externalized responsibility."
Want to read
April 24, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13322120
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13322120
April 5, 2019
This book is brilliant, amazing and a masterpiece. I really suggest every single person who lives in this world to read it at least twice!
August 29, 2025
What a disappointment. The book started strong by delving into the now well known reproduction crisis in psychology and some solid criticisms of the foundations and incentive structure of psychological "science". However as soon as we enter the chapter on early childhood experiences, where the authors attempt to do a take down of therapy modalities focusing on adverse childhood experiences, studies are grossly mischaracterized and misrepresented (eg. claiming the romanian orphanage studies demonstrated the lack of importance of the first two years of life on later personality development when the study shows the exact opposite). When you go to the bibliography, you can see that they didn't even cite the original study and instead cite a hugely biased secondary source. They also tout the controversial meta analysis claiming that childhood sexual assault had only minor effects on later mental disorders as gospel and fail to address the many criticisms that have been leveled at its methodology and results.
In summary this book is too blindly biased and seemingly intentionally misrepresentative of the data to be worth reading. It is a shame that its rating is so high on this site.
In summary this book is too blindly biased and seemingly intentionally misrepresentative of the data to be worth reading. It is a shame that its rating is so high on this site.
November 25, 2024
Es aterrador saber cómo varios aspectos que dieron origen a la psicología se asemejan al nazismo 💀
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April 18, 2015Forbidden Psychology is a powerful and forceful effort to expose dangerous ideas in psychology that mascaraed as science. Readers who care about the problem of pseudoscience in psychology will love this book. And those who don’t care really need to read it.
Elizabeth Loftus
Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA
Do you need a therapist? Are you convinced there's something wrong with you and a wonderful new kind of psychotherapy will help - or that an ancient technique revealed for the first time will transform your life? If so, buy this informative and alarming book instead. 'Psychology Gone wrong' reveals the muddles, motivations and even the outright frauds that mean much of the popular psychology we consume is meaningless - and may even be harmful.
Prof. Susan Blackmore
Psychology, the study of the human mind, continues to struggle to shake off its nonscientific attributes. In this engaging and informative book, Tomasz Witkowski and Maciej Zatonski courageously take on the “dark side” of psychology, both within the hallowed halls of the academic world and the private walls of the psychotherapy room. In doing so, they expose the often neglected features of contemporary psychology that themselves require treatment. In this respect, Witkowski’s and Zatonsk’s book is a helpful and much needed roadmap for forging a scientific psychology in the 21st century.
Prof. Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D.
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
I highly recommend this thoughtful and stimulating book to all. Not only should it be required reading for every psychologist and psychology student, but readers in general will benefit immensely as well, especially those who may be contemplating psychotherapeutic treatment. Its purview is broad, ranging from a penetrating examination of fundamental problems that plague academic psychological research to a critical analysis of the psychotherapy jungle, where pseudoscience thrives amongst the plethora of theories and practices offered to the public. Psychology and people at large can only benefit from this excellent analysis."
Professor James Alcock, PhD, C.Psych.
Department of Psychology
Glendon College, York University
"This is a well-referenced, well-reasoned book that is chock-full of information about the state of psychology today. It exposes a lot of dirty linen that would be of interest to any reader. I agree with James Alcock, Professor of Psychology at York University, whose back-cover blurb says it should be required reading for every psychologist and psychology student and anyone contemplating psychotherapy."
Harriet Hall, Science-Based Medicine
Elizabeth Loftus
Distinguished Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA
Do you need a therapist? Are you convinced there's something wrong with you and a wonderful new kind of psychotherapy will help - or that an ancient technique revealed for the first time will transform your life? If so, buy this informative and alarming book instead. 'Psychology Gone wrong' reveals the muddles, motivations and even the outright frauds that mean much of the popular psychology we consume is meaningless - and may even be harmful.
Prof. Susan Blackmore
Psychology, the study of the human mind, continues to struggle to shake off its nonscientific attributes. In this engaging and informative book, Tomasz Witkowski and Maciej Zatonski courageously take on the “dark side” of psychology, both within the hallowed halls of the academic world and the private walls of the psychotherapy room. In doing so, they expose the often neglected features of contemporary psychology that themselves require treatment. In this respect, Witkowski’s and Zatonsk’s book is a helpful and much needed roadmap for forging a scientific psychology in the 21st century.
Prof. Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D.
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
I highly recommend this thoughtful and stimulating book to all. Not only should it be required reading for every psychologist and psychology student, but readers in general will benefit immensely as well, especially those who may be contemplating psychotherapeutic treatment. Its purview is broad, ranging from a penetrating examination of fundamental problems that plague academic psychological research to a critical analysis of the psychotherapy jungle, where pseudoscience thrives amongst the plethora of theories and practices offered to the public. Psychology and people at large can only benefit from this excellent analysis."
Professor James Alcock, PhD, C.Psych.
Department of Psychology
Glendon College, York University
"This is a well-referenced, well-reasoned book that is chock-full of information about the state of psychology today. It exposes a lot of dirty linen that would be of interest to any reader. I agree with James Alcock, Professor of Psychology at York University, whose back-cover blurb says it should be required reading for every psychologist and psychology student and anyone contemplating psychotherapy."
Harriet Hall, Science-Based Medicine
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews