Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vu

We air our feelings and dirty laundry on television talk shows. Many Americans rely on advice from a therapist to get them through daily crises and boost our self-esteem. The news media constantly relays stories of people "at risk". And our lunch conversations are sprinkled with the phrases "scarred for life," "emotionally fragile", and "How did I get here."

Frank Furedi, author of the critically acclaimed Paranoid Parenting, turns his sharp eye to explore the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in contemporary society in his latest book Therapy Culture. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of who we are. Increasingly vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of our psyches.

Furedi questions the widely accepted notions that this new culture represents an enlightened shift towards emotions and shows how this turn is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of our emotions.

Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapy culture incites everyone to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, politics, and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of modern life.

"In Therapy Culture, Frank Furedi blames our cultural obsession with emotion on social change....Therapy Culture is an effective assault on the moral high ground of emotional supremacy....Is it not more bracing to consider that salvation lies not with a paid counsellor but with our friends, families and lovers? The decision is yours. And your therapist's." Josh Raymond, The Times Literary Supplement (read the entire Times Literary Supplement review)

Therapy Culture explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Professor Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology. Terms like people 'at risk', 'scarred for life' or 'emotional damage' evoke a unique sense of powerlessness. Furedi questions the widely accepted thesis that the therapeutic turn represents an enlightened shift towards emotions. He claims that therapeutic culture is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of people's emotions. Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapeutic culture incites people to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, political and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of the therapeutic turn.

Frank Furedi, author of the critically acclaimed Paranoid Parenting, turns his sharp eye to explore the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in contemporary society in his latest book Therapy Culture. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology.

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, Canterbury.

1. The Culture of Emotionalism
2. The Politics of Emotion
3. Targeting Privacy and Informal Relations
4. How Did We Get There?
5. The Diminished Self
6. The Self at Risk
7. Fragile Identity - Hooked on Self-Esteem
8. Conferring Recognition - The Quest for Identity
9. Therapeutic Claims Making and the Demand for a Diagnosis
10. Final Thoughts - Does It Matter?