VV(12) - Therapy

[David Morris]

http://www.utne.com/webwatch/

Dissecting America's Obsession with Therapy
by Leif Utne

Has therapy eclipsed religion in the U.S. today? Not yet, says Eva 
Moskovitz. But, we're getting there. Moskovitz, author of a new book called 
In Therapy We Trust, argues that America places an almost religious faith in 
the psyche. "Americans turn to feeling good," she says in an interview with 
The Johns Hopkins University Press, "as reflexively as they once turned to 
God. As a nation, we have become utterly devoted to self fulfillment. It's 
our new faith, our new religion."

While Moskovitz does not deny the importance of introspection and 
self-analysis, she believes that moral responsibility takes a hit when too 
much emphasis is placed on the inner self. "The therapeutic gospel's 
morality is a limited one," she claims. "In this morality, happiness and 
self-exploration are valorized above all else. Psychological goals and means 
are celebrated and anything that appears to diminish such goals and means is 
rejected."


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