This is Part 4 in a series. <\/p>\n
Can the failures and human limitations of psychotherapy<\/a> and psychotherapists really be blamed for our current cultural chaos and our raging mental health crisis here in America as author Jonathan Alpert indicates in his controversial new book Therapy Nation? (I am referring here to psychotherapy rather than psychopharmacology<\/a>, though in practice today these two different but potentially complementary treatment approaches have become inextricably intertwined.)<\/p>\n How Modern Life Contributes to Mental Health Challenges<\/p>\n Modern life has become exponentially more chaotic, challenging, coarse, scary, stressful<\/a>, trying, complex, and, at times, infuriatingly difficult to manage. Anger<\/a>, rage, resentment, destructive behavior, and violence are pervasive in American culture, and this evil is spreading across the globe. Hatred and hostility are running rampant. Racism<\/a>, misogyny, fascism, genocide, mass shootings<\/a>, terrorism, and political assassinations are on the rise. <\/p>\n People are frustrated, furious, discouraged, distressed, disoriented, disillusioned, and desperate to find meaning and purpose, peace of mind, to feel some sense of security, belonging, power, recognition, and significance, and to learn new and more creative ways of dealing with the deeply disturbing and perilous vicissitudes of post-modern and post-pandemic existence. <\/p>\n When confronted daily with such unprecedented polarization, negativity, violence, and global pandemonium, human beings instinctively seek to make sense of the seeming absurdity or senselessness, to find ways to restore and sustain equilibrium, nurture their soul, maintain their self-esteem<\/a>, and preserve their sanity; to constructively cope with the ubiquitous and inescapable suffering, stress, and anxiety<\/a> of existence. But sadly, they often do not possess the necessary skills and knowledge to do so. <\/p>\n Might it be possible that what we are suffering from here in America and elsewhere is not too much therapy but too little of the right kind of therapy? Therapy that is capable of helping those who want or need assistance to navigate the treacherous, choppy, and unprecedented waters we presently find ourselves so desperately floundering in. <\/p>\n Alpert’s answer to this cultural crisis is seemingly more of the same: Cognitive-behavioral<\/a> and dialectical behavior therapy (CBT and DBT). But both of these so-called evidence-based therapies have been widely practiced for the past fifty years and became the predominant type of psychotherapy taught to student therapists in training programs and practiced by most mainstream clinicians in the twenty-first century. <\/p>\n Could this actually be a significant part of the problems we are seeing rather than their solution? Indeed, these days student therapists, who eventually join the workforce, are almost exclusively exposed to cognitive-behavioral approaches to treatment to the abject neglect of more traditional psychodynamic, existential or humanistic orientations to therapy, much to their own and the public’s detriment. <\/p>\n The Case for “Clinical Wisdom” and Existential Depth Psychology<\/p>\n I address some of these controversial questions, albeit hopefully in a somewhat more positive direction, in my new, not-yet-published book Secrets of Psychotherapy: Quintessential Clinical Wisdom<\/a> for a Crazy World. Its premise is that the vast treasure trove of what I cumulatively call “clinical wisdom,” painstakingly accrued, cultivated, conserved, developed, and curated by psychotherapists of all stripes over the past century, is desperately needed in our day, and, therefore, far too precious to stay secret! <\/p>\n In the book, I present specific situations psychotherapy patients commonly encounter and how they might be addressed by a unique kind of therapeutic approach I call “existential depth psychology” commensurate to the turbulent times in which we live. To quote Viennese psychiatrist and psychotherapist Viktor Frankl (1946\/1985), \u201cEvery age has its own collective neurosis, and every age needs its own psychotherapy to cope with it.\u201d Existential depth psychology (EDP), a pragmatic synthesis of psychodynamic, existential, and Jungian therapy, along with various other kinds of “clinical wisdom,” is specifically designed to address the current collective neurosis of our age. <\/p>\n Just what that psychotherapy should look like in our chaotic and divisive twenty-first-century culture remains at the very core of the current controversy. And, despite its shortcomings, mistakes, deficiencies, and admittedly concerning recent trends, scapegoating the psychotherapy profession for our collective crises and existential dilemmas is not only naive but may be the most recent neurotic<\/a> manifestation of projecting and externalizing responsibility for our own personal, professional, and societal failures (e.g, Jung’s central concept of the personal and collective “shadow”) on to the psychotherapy field, not unlike the frustrated but resistant therapy patient bitterly blaming the therapist for their lack of progress rather than looking more closely at themselves. Of course, the psychotherapist must also be willing to do the same. None of which is easy. <\/p>\n The Cooperative Nature of Psychotherapy and Its Outcomes <\/p>\n In the final analysis, psychotherapy is fundamentally a unique cooperative relationship between two people and its success or failure depends upon a mutually respectful and motivated collaboration<\/a> between patient or client and clinician. Failure can be the fault of either or both. Not every course of therapy “succeeds,” however one defines that. There are never any guarantees. As the old adage goes, “It takes two to tango.” But, statistically speaking, some 80% of people who try therapy do find it helpful. <\/p>\n