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One nation under therapy: how the helping culture is eroding self-reliance

By: Contributor(s): Publication details: New York St. Martin's Griffin Press 2005Description: 310 pISBN:
  • 9780312304447
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 155.8973 S6O6
Summary: Americans have traditionally placed great value on self-reliance and fortitude. In recent decades, however, we have seen the rise of a therapeutic ethic that views Americans as emotionally underdeveloped, psychically frail, and requiring the ministrations of mental health professionals to cope with life's vicissitudes. Being "in touch with one's feelings" and freely expressing them have become paramount personal virtues. Today - with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every conceivable problem - we are at risk of degrading our native ability to cope with life's challenges.". "Drawing on established science and common sense, Christina Hoff Sommers and Dr. Sally Satel reveal how "therapism" and the burgeoning trauma industry have come to pervade our lives. Help is offered everywhere under the presumption that we need it: in children's classrooms, the workplace, churches, courtrooms, the media, the military. But with all the "help" comes a host of troubling consequences. (http://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312304447)
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Item type Current library Item location Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Vikram Sarabhai Library Rack 5-A / Slot 159 (0 Floor, West Wing) Non-fiction General Stacks 155.8973 S6O6 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 192645

Table of Contents:

Preface : one nation under therapy

1. The myth of the fragile child

2. Esteem thyself

3. Sin to syndrome

4. Emotional correctness

5. From pathos to pathology

6. September 11, 2001 : the mental health crisis that wasn't

Conclusion : Therapism and the nation's future.

Americans have traditionally placed great value on self-reliance and fortitude. In recent decades, however, we have seen the rise of a therapeutic ethic that views Americans as emotionally underdeveloped, psychically frail, and requiring the ministrations of mental health professionals to cope with life's vicissitudes. Being "in touch with one's feelings" and freely expressing them have become paramount personal virtues. Today - with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every conceivable problem - we are at risk of degrading our native ability to cope with life's challenges.".
"Drawing on established science and common sense, Christina Hoff Sommers and Dr. Sally Satel reveal how "therapism" and the burgeoning trauma industry have come to pervade our lives. Help is offered everywhere under the presumption that we need it: in children's classrooms, the workplace, churches, courtrooms, the media, the military. But with all the "help" comes a host of troubling consequences.

(http://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312304447)

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