Courses
From Freud to Facebook: 100 Years of Psychotherapy in America
Freud transplanted a new way of thinking about human development to American soil in 1909. For 50 years the theories of Freud and his followers were embraced both as panacea and as the gold standard for treatment. While many experts today believe psychoanalysis has failed, both as a science and as a treatment, psychoanalytic concepts still penetrate our language and are imbedded in how we think and talk about ourselves. This course will explore how psychoanalysis has become part of popular culture.
New ideas about psychotherapy proliferated as psychoanalysis fell into disfavor. Research about attachment and trauma, the rise of behaviorism and family systems, hypnosis and mindfulness, neuroscience and pharmacology, along with clever uses of the internet are now supported by excellent research. Still, many questions remain about the effectiveness of various forms of psychotherapy, the adequacy of diagnostic systems, connections to pharmacology and the insurance industry.
A psychotherapist whose career spans 50 years will offer a personal perspective about the emotional and ethical challenges of this profession. Four case studies will provide a window into the intimate, intense, sometimes unpredictable world of psychotherapy.
Instructor: Steve Bank
Three Thursdays, April 14, 21, 28; 4:30-6pmButterfield Room - $70
![Steve Bank](../../images/spring2016_bank.jpg)