|
"Crazy” Therapies: What Are They? Do They Work?
Margaret Thaler Singer and
Janja
Lalich.
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 1996, 286 pages.
Reviewed by
Keith Harary, Ph.D.
Anyone who has experienced a
period of intense emotional distress, or struggled with psychological problems
that seem too complex or over-whelming to resolve without outside help, knows
the feeling of vulnerability that such a state of mind can engender. Just as a
medical patient diagnosed with a serious illness may be drawn to the empty
promise of a questionable “miracle cure,” those who are struggling with profound
psychological problems may be similarly attracted to a wide range of dubious
therapeutic methods. While many of these faddish and unorthodox therapies may
seem to offer dramatic and positive results, they are often of little value and
may even be harmful to those seeking help. Unfortunately, there has been little
practical information available to the public with which to assess the vast
number of different kinds of therapies offered. The need for a kind of “consumer
reports,” practical guide in this arena has now been rationally and skillfully
answered with the publication of Dr. Margaret Singer and Janja Lalich’s most
recent book,
“Crazy” Therapies.
Written in a clear, highly
entertaining, and popular style, “Crazy” Therapies is just the book for
anyone trying to wend their way through the daunting therapeutic maze to find a
therapist who will truly be best suited to their personal needs. Had Singer and
Lalich written this guide in more dispassionate, academic language, the
information presented would have been no less useful but could easily have
failed to reach those who need it most. With its popular approach, including a
series of original cartoons—with such entertaining captions as “I Channel
Barbie” and “You’ve Got to Get Worse Before You Get Better”—and the kinds of
snappy subtitles—“Cry, Laugh, Attack, Scream—Cathart Your Brains Out”— that
might at first glance be associated with a less serious book, “Crazy”
Therapies actually hits the mark straight on. Such writing not only helps
lighten the burden for those trying to fathom this often too self consciously
heavy arena, but also the book’s humor and cynicism are ultimately empowering
for those who might otherwise put their prospective therapists on a precarious
pedestal and fail to ask the hard and probing questions they must ask of such
practitioners before signing up.
“Crazy” Therapies
not only exposes the rickety underpinnings of such New Age therapies as alleged
past life/future life therapy, channeling, rebirthing, and numerous others, but
also it presents a vital survival guide to such dangerous pitfalls as “sexual
hanky panky” between patient and therapist. Perhaps most important, this
essential guide offers readers the kind of practical and sage advice needed to
evaluate any new therapeutic approaches that are bound to come along in the
future, and pro-vides a crucial checklist of questions to ask a prospective
therapist, along with guidelines for distinguishing between good and bad therapy
both up-front and in the ongoing course of the therapeutic experience.
Full of practical wisdom and
invaluable insights, “Crazy” Therapies is the kind of indispensable book
one hopes will be distributed to as wide an audience as possible. Any
prospective client who reads it before entering into the therapeutic process
will likely be inoculated against much of the harm that can otherwise come from
becoming vulnerable to a therapist who either genuinely does not have the
client’s best interests at heart, or who practices ill conceived methods that
may not be helpful—and may actually turn out to be harmful—in spite of the
therapist’s best intentions.
|
