Publisher's Synopsis
When a psychologist loses a client, the oft repeated excuse for his, or her, failure is that the client failed to contribute to the therapeutic program. The truth, however, is that the therapist had not the vaguest idea what was at the root of the neurotic circumstance.The psychologist depends entirely on how the client represents himself, of herself, when very few, if any, get past the myriad of entrenched defenses that effectively block access to the true etiology of the disturbance. As often as not the stresses and traumas promoting the disorders originate in pre-conscious development stages - many near the time of birth. Academic studies in clinical psychology have been totally overtaken by the Cognitive-Behavior (so called) "science" that advances the legitimacy of the therapist to undertake therapy without necessitating access to the roots of the disturbance. It's all very mechanical and intellectual with little room for the insights and creative abstractions that defines psychoanalytic theory and practice. The Cognitive-Behavioral therapist targets the shallow dimension of manifest symptoms and aims at alleviating them. Outside the more popular phobias it never works - never for any sustained period of time.But there is a diagnostic discipline which gives immediate access to the etiology of virtually any neurotic or personality disorder. It also underlines the fact that psychology is a true science that lends itself to testing and replication in laboratory programs. The future of psychological diagnosis is already here..
