| Against Therapy | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson |
| Genre(s) | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | Common Courage Press |
| Publication date | 1988 |
| Pages | 340 |
| ISBN | 1567510221 |
Against Therapy: Emotional Tyranny and the Myth of Psychological Healing is a 1988 book by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson which claims that psychotherapy is a form of socially sanctioned abuse. Psychiatric Times called it "a "battle cry" for the abolition of psychotherapy".[1]
According to Masson, therapists ask patients to do more than is reasonably possible, they "distort another person's reality" to try to change people in ways that conform to the therapist's concepts and prejudices. Therapists are, in Masson's opinion, inevitably corrupted by power and "abuse of one form or another is built into the very fabric of psychotherapy".
Time magazine wrote, "Although the author's slash-and-burn style of argument can be entertaining, readers should keep their hands on their wallets. Assertions tend to be sold as established facts."[2] The New York Times argued that "Masson has failed to put a stake through the heart of therapy - in fact, he's greatly missed the mark."[3]