The Dilemma of Psychology: A Psychologist Looks at His Troubled Profession [Paperback]

Lawrence Leshan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

This visionary road map to a more authentic, more vital psychology will fascinate anyone concerned about the mental health of today's society.

Featuring a new introduction by Dr. Stanley Krippner—coeditor of the best-selling Broken Images, Broken Selves—this expanded edition of The Dilemma of Psychology reveals why more than 100 years of psychology and armies of psychotherapists have not helped to solve humanity's most pressing issues. Uncompromising, yet with a deep passion for his field, Lawrence LeShan talks about the expectations that rose with the birth of psychology, how the new science started off on the wrong foot, and why it might still be the only tool to solve the deepest issues of our time: war, pollution, and overpopulation. In order to improve the human condition, LeShan argues, psychology has to make humanity and human life its focus. Witty and full of imaginative examples.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Lawrence LeShan’s work is a model of the kind of soul-searching that must be spread over the whole field of psychology if it is to respond to the cry for help that is now coming not only from individuals, but from our whole modern civilization.”

(Dr. Jacob Needleman, author of The Heart of Philosophy and The Way of the Physician )

From the Publisher

"How Human-Oriented is Psychology?"
Lawrence LeShan Reminds the "Not-so-Young"
Field of Psychology of Its Humanistic Mission

Psychologists have a reason to celebrate. In October 2002, Daniel Kahnemann, a psychologist, received the Nobel prize in economics for helping to "integrate insights from psychological research into economic science." Once again, psychology has proven its ability to contribute to modern society. Or has it? In THE DILEMMA OF PSYCHOLOGY, the award-winning psychologist and author of twelve books Lawrence LeShan takes inventory of a science that he claims has "failed to solve any of the pressing issues of our times."

LeShan’s critique is uttered against the backdrop of a science that, well after a century of activity, has produced legions of highly trained specialists and therapists, founded the largest scientific organization in the world—yet done little to help overcome issues of war, environmental decline, and overpopulation.

The reasons, argues the author, can be found in the creation of psychology and psychotherapy. In THE DILEMMA OF PSYCHOLOGY, he tells the story of a science that modeled itself upon the methods and principles of the much more established natural sciences while ignoring the psychological insights of literature and art. Revisiting the Milgrim Studies, the booming rat laboratories of the Seventies, and the pompous conventions of the Eighties, LeShan systematically reveals the consequences that this scientific course has had on psychological research and practice.

It is an opportune time to reverse this course, comments LeShan, as psychology is the "only science among all disciplines that can deal with the problems of today’s ever-changing world." In THE DILEMMA OF PSYCHOLOGY, he explains why he has come to this conclusion and how psychology needs to recreate itself in order to take on a truly relevant role in society.

First published in 1990 and written by a psychologist with more than half a century of working history as a research psychologist and psychotherapist, THE DILEMMA OF PSYCHOLOGY has lost none of its critical significance. As Stanley Krippner notes in the new introduction, "the case could be made that psychology has become even more standardized and medicalized, as psychological therapists are told that they will be only reimbursed if their type of treatment has been ‘empirically validated.’ " For any therapist or researcher envisioning a more authentic, enriching psychology, LeShan’s book will provide much inspiration and encouragement. CONTACT: Birte Pampel, 212.777.8395, ext. 13, [e-mail]

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581152515
• ISBN-13: 978-1581152517
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,484,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful, openly presented treatise, February 8, 2003

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dilemma of Psychology: A Psychologist Looks at His Troubled Profession (Paperback)

The Dilemma Of Psychology by psychologist and educator Lawrence LeShan is a carefully written scrutiny of the discipline and healing science of psychology. Accessibly written by a practicing psychologist holding deep reservations regarding the current state of his profession, The Dilemma Of Psychology candidly examines psychology's quest to understand the human condition and its state purpose to help people. LeShan questions a number of basic assumptions that are widespread among practitioners such as that "God is an Engineer." A thoughtful, openly presented treatise, The Dilemma Of Psychology is a highly recommended contribution to Psychology Studies reference collections and reading lists.