The Rise of the
Therapeutic
Society
Psychological Knowledge & the
Contradictions of Cultural Change
Katie Wright
Washington, DC
Copyright © 2011 Katie Wright
New Academia Publishing, 2011, paperback edition
New Academia Publishing, 2015, ebook edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.
Published in eBook format by New Academia Publishing
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Cover art: "Street Scene" by Charles Blackman
© Charles Blackman/Licensed by Viscopy, 2011
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011921073
ISBN 978-0-9906939-8-7 ebook
ISBN 978-0-9832451-2-4 paperback (alk. paper)
P.O. Box 27420, Washington, DC, 20038-7420
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The Rise of the Therapeutic Society is an examination of the contemporary fascination with psychological life and the historical developments that fostered it. Taking Australia as the focal point, Katie Wright traces the ascendancy of therapeutic culture, from nineteenth century concerns about nervousness, to the growth of psychology, the diffusion of an analytic attitude, and the spread of therapy and counseling. Wright's analysis, which draws on social theory, cultural history, and interviews with therapists and people in therapy, calls into question the pessimism that pervades many accounts of the therapeutic turn and provides an alternative assessment of its ramifications for social, political, and personal life in the globalized West.
"Wright's work provides an all important antidote to a long series of off-base polemics that misunderstand the role of psychotherapy in contemporary society. Wright's work provides a sharp and welcome contrast. She finds the language of therapy at the heart of the new social movements."
—Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University.
"The strength of Wright's work lies in its emphasis on the complex, contradictory ways in which various aspects of our global worlds enter into the inner, emotional texture of identity as well as the processes through which the unconscious imagination constitutes fabrications of the social-historical world."
—Anthony Elliott, Chair of Sociology, Flinders University, Australia.
"This work makes an important contribution to cultural and historical sociology. Wright argues convincingly for a reappraisal of therapeutic culture through a compelling critique of existing theory and by drawing on alternative traditions to those that have dominated scholarship in this field. The case studies she presents are intrinsically interesting and theoretically important, and her innovative perspective on the therapeutic society will make a valuable and significant contribution to the field."
—Zlatko Skrbis, Dean, UQ Graduate School, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Katie Wright is an Australian Research Council
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School
of Education at the University of Melbourne.
Preface & Acknowledgements
Since the publication in 1966 of Philip Rieff's classic treatise, The Triumph of the Therapeutic, the West's fascination with the psychological has been a subject of ongoing scholarly interest. In the wake of his brilliant, if at times impenetrable, study of "faith after Freud," stands a now voluminous literature that extends Rieff's analytic frame in a variety of directions. In light of these debates, this book offers an account of the rise of the therapeutic in Australia, where its presence is evident no less than in other parts of the West. Beyond telling an Australian story, however, the book has a theoretical purpose that transcends national boundaries. My hope, therefore, is that it will appeal both to those already familiar with debates about the therapeutic, as well as those interested in the spread of psychological knowledges and changing ideas about the self and emotional life in Australia and beyond.
In the face of its pervasiveness, the therapeutic is a daunting object of study, one I suspect that leaves those who endeavor to investigate it acutely aware of the impossibility of coming to grips with its many and varied dimensions. It is both omnipresent and ephemeral, finding expression in a multiplicity of ways at different times and in a variety of locations. I have tried to capture something of its disparate historical development by focusing on some of the key institutional sites and processes involved in its emergence. I have also tried to bring to bear upon my analysis a central dimension of the therapeutic society that is too often overlooked: people's actual experiences of therapy.
That the initial ideas for this book developed into this volume was made possible by a number of people, all of whom I owe a debt of gratitude. I extend my warmest thanks and deep appreciation to the people interviewed for this project about their experiences of therapy and counseling. Their willingness to share intimate and personal experiences of very difficult times in their lives provides a most valuable insight into the complexity of the therapeutic. Although material from their interviews appears only in one chapter, it was these initial discussions that convinced me of the need to develop an alternative account of the therapeutic turn. I also offer special thanks to Stephanie Dowrick, Amanda Gordon, Antony Kidman, and Peter O'Connor, for sharing their insights and experiences of providing psychological support to others.
Many of the ideas that shape this book arose from discussions with Kerreen Reiger, and her encouragement and critical feedback from the early stages of the project to its completion has been invaluable. John Carroll also provided advice along the way, and from a more skeptical standpoint than mine, challenged me to think critically about the place of therapy in modern society. A number of other people kindly commented on drafts and for insightful and constructive suggestions, I thank Sean Byrne, Julie McLeod, Josh Switzer, and Brenda Tait. In addition, I thank James Wright for help in preparing the images for publication. Thanks also, of course, to my friends and family for their support and encouragement: Montana Sue Watkin and John Wright especially. I should also like to acknowledge the institutions which enabled me to complete this project: the Sociology Department at La Trobe University where this research began, and the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, where it was completed.
Parts of this work have appeared elsewhere in somewhat different form and I extend my thanks to the editors and publishers for allowing me to republish revised versions of the following: "Theorizing Therapeutic Culture: Past Influences, Future Directions," Journal of Sociology 44 no. 4 (2008): 321-336; "Engendering a Therapeutic Ethos: Modernity, Masculinity & Nervousness," Journal of Historical Sociology 22 no. 1 (2009): 84-107; and 'Therapy Culture' in Reflected Light: La Trobe Essays, edited by Peter Beilharz and Robert Manne, 302-312 (Black Inc: Melbourne, 2006).
I am grateful for permission to reproduce the artwork appearing on the cover: "Street Scene" by Charles Blackman, 1960, oil on masonite. Collection: Art Gallery of Ballarat, The William, Rene and Blair Ritchie Collection. Bequest of Blair Ritchie, 1998.
I am also grateful to those copyright holders