Psychotherapy and the Social Clinic in the United States: Soothing Fictions

by William M. Epstein

Overview

This book offers a compelling critical analysis of American society by examining the role of psychotherapy within social policy and the culture that has fashioned it. It takes a deeply critical look at ‘the social clinic,’ defined here as a ubiquitous organizational arrangement that includes clinical and community psychology, counseling, clinical social work, psychiatry, much of the self-help industry, complementary and alternative medicine and others. Epstein’s analysis concludes that the social clinic lacks credible evidence of effectiveness and its continued popularity expresses popular but predatory American values such as romantic individualism, the triumph of the subjective, a sense of personal and political chosenness, persistent bigotry, and a preference for tribal as opposed to civic identities. This careful examination of American society through the lens of psychotherapeutic practice characterizes the social clinic as a soothing fiction of the United States.

The book offers caring services as the unrealized alternative to clinical treatment, capable of achieving greater personal adjustment as well as social and economic equality. It will appeal to readers with an interest in social welfare, public policy, and public administration, as well as to students and scholars of psychotherapy, counseling, social work, rehabilitation, and community psychology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030327491
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	12/07/2019
Edition description:	1st ed. 2019
Pages:	361
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

William M. Epstein was Professor of Social Work at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, USA until his retirement in 2019. He is the author of The Masses are the Ruling Classes (2017), Empowerment as Ceremony New (2013), and Democracy without Decency: Good Citizenship and the War on Poverty (2010).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I. Psychotherapy.- Chapter 2. Psychotherapy and Tests of Effectiveness.- Chapter 3. Psychotherapy for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.- Chapter 4. Psychotherapy for Depression and Addiction.- Chapter 5. Psychotherapy and Society.- Part II. Clinical Social Work.- Chapter 6. Precursors to Modern Social Work.- Chapter 7. Contemporary Social Work and the Social Clinic.- Chapter 8. Clinical Social Work in Child Foster Care, Family Preservation, and Schools.- Part III. Other Practices of the Social Clinic.- Chapter 9. Community Psychological Practice and a Note on Rehabilitation in Corrections.- Chapter 10. Mind and Spirit on the Fringes of the Social Clinic.- Chapter 11. Soothing Fictions.