Stan Katz

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Dr Stan J Katz in an American clinical and forensic psychologist. A critic of the codependency movement, Katz co-authored The Codependency Conspiracy: How to Break the Recovery Habit and Take Charge of Your Life (New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1991). Katz proposes that many pop-psychology movements (especially codependency) are rooted in marketing campaigns and not valid science or psychology.

He was also the consulting psychologist on the recently cancelled reality tv series Starting Over.

"By creating so many different disease characteristics, the codependency leaders offer a slot for everyone. We all must be codependent because we all fit at least one of the descriptions. This tactic is very good for book sales and lecture attendance. ... But the tactic is also irresponsible. Most of the feelings and behavior listed as codependence traits are perfectly normal. They do not indicate that we came from dysfunctional families or are in one now. They do not prove we are addicts. ... All they prove is that the authors of these lists have conceived a theory so broad, so multifaceted that it is virtually meaningless."