Review
"Rarely has any writer addressed the issue of values in psychotherapy as cogently and comprehensively as has Robert Woolfolk in this groundbreaking volume. This book should be read by the providers and consumers of psychotherapy as well as by anyone with an intellectual interest in the current status of this important form of treatment." (Aaron T. Beck, university professor emeritus, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)
"The Cure of Souls is a philosophical analysis of some of the most important aspects of psychotherapy that are often neglected by practicing therapists. To understand what some of the basic issues of psychotherapy are and how it can be made more practical and scientific, this book is an invaluable guide. Bravo!" (Albert Ellis, president, Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, New York City)
"The Cure of Souls is a systematic, intelligent, and perceptive book that will inform those concerned with understanding our culture and challenge those who provide psychotherapeutic interventions to better ground their interventions in what wisdom we can assemble on these issues." (John Darley, Warren Professor of Psychology, Princeton University)
From the Inside Flap
Written with a rare combination of personal passion and multidisciplinary expertise, The Cure of Souls is a provocative investigation into the role and impact of the "institution" of psychotherapy in the modern world. Robert L. Woolfolk explores the influence of the basic tenets of psychotherapy on Western cultures and, in turn, the influence of modern Western cultures on the assumptions inherent to psychotherapy.This compelling work stands at the intersection of several disciplines—psychological theory, clinical and counseling psychology, humanistic psychology, the history of psychotherapy, and analytic and "continental" philosophy. It draws on Woolfolk's philosophical investigations and clinical experience to examine psychotherapy from philosophical, sociological, and historical perspectives. Through this wide-angle lens, Woolfolk considers the relative place of science and values in the goals and processes of psychotherapy.Woolfolk's paradigm-shifting examination of the sociocultural functions of psychotherapy can be seen as a response to the influence of managed care and related developments in the healthcare marketplace on the practice of psychotherapy. While not denying the importance of science in the mental health professions, the author argues against reducing psychotherapy to a "psychotechnology." He favors instead a values-oriented understanding of psychotherapy's role in our culture. The Cure of Souls is Woolfolk's clarion call for a comprehensive concept of psychotherapy?an understanding that honors the complexity and depth of human existence.
