The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: The Theory and Method of Autonomous Psychotherapy [Paperback]

Thomas Stephen Szasz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 226 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd); New edition edition (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815602294
• ISBN-13: 978-0815602293
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,520,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Psychiatry: How It Should Be Practiced, January 29, 2006

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Arkadiy Dubovoy (Virginia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: The Theory and Method of Autonomous Psychotherapy (Paperback)

I always found writings and ideas of Dr. Thomas Szasz fascinating, and I have read most of his books. Almost all of them include a disclaimer by the author: differently phrased but always firm statements that the kind of psychiatry Dr. Szasz practices has nothing to do with the conventional coercive psychiatry. I often wondered what kind of psychiatry Dr. Szasz does practice, and if there is a way to practice psychiatry at all if you accept Dr. Szasz basic ideas (these ideas, of course, are not exclusively his, he just has enough courage to be the staunchest defender of the common sense among psychiatrists).
There is nothing in the book about the specifics of Dr. Szasz' psychoanalytic methods. This book is dedicated strictly to the ethical aspects of the relationship between the analyst and the patient. Dr. Szasz describes in great detail his views on the nature of the relationship between the patient and analyst, the fundamental ethical principles underlying this relationship, and the developmental stages of the relationship from the ethical perspective.
After reading "Ethics of Psychoanalysis" I can tell you that, yes, Dr. Szasz does what he preaches, and, yes, it is possible to practice psychiatry in a non-coercive way.
A word of caution: In order to understand this book, it helps to be familiar with the basic psychological ideas advanced by Dr. Szasz throughout his long career. His "The Myth of Mental Illness" is a good place to start.

5.0 out of 5 stars Autonomous Psychotherapy For Patients, April 7, 2011

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Sergio "Sergio Ivan Linares" (Piedecuesta, Colombia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: The Theory and Method of Autonomous Psychotherapy (Paperback)

Dr. Thomas Szasz exposes how psychoanalysis should be performed by the analyst qua therapist and analysands qua patients in a game between two persons with a contract, the author writes about the rules that must be followed in autonomous psychotherapy.
He is giving advice to therapists and there are examples from its own experience as psychotherapist. It is a useful work for all those professionals in the mental health field.

5.0 out of 5 stars A PROMINENT "ANTI-PSYCHIATRIST" OUTLINES HIS CONCEPT OF 'AUTONOMOUS THERAPY", September 22, 2010

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Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: The Theory and Method of Autonomous Psychotherapy (Paperback)

Thomas Szasz (born 1920) is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center. He is a well-known critic of psychiatry, of the social role of medicine in modern society, and is a social libertarian.

In the Preface to this 1965 book, Szasz states, "In this book, I propose to describe psychotherapy as social action, not as healing. So conceived, psychoanalytic treatment is characterized by its aim---to increase the patient's knowledge of himself and others and hence his freedom of choice in the conduct of his life; by its method---the analysis of communications, rules, and games; and lastly, by its social context---a contractual, rather than a 'therapeutic,' relationship between analyst and analysand. In sum, I shall attempt to define the nature of psychoanalysis; clarify its limits; and establish its proper relations to other forms of psychotherapy, medicine, ethics, and social science."

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"I have occasionally done this, referring to (Szasz's form of psychotherapy) as 'autonomous psychotherapy.' I chose this expression to indicate the paramount aim of this procedure: preservation and expansion of the client's autonomy."
"My thesis is that the practice of analytic technique issues from the personality of the analyst and can never be distinct from it."
"This does not mean that I advocate a nondirective technique. The autonomous therapist is not a dummy echoing what the patient says;... The analyst ... participates actively and meaningfully in a particular kind of dialogue."
"(The therapist's) task is, first, not to diagnose the patient, but to engage him in a meaningful dialogue and, second, not to try to collect data from the patient, but to relay appropriate information to him."
"Despite the inverse relationship between man's wish to control his fellow man and his wish to understand him, psychotherapists seem to have wanted the best of two incompatible worlds. They have tried to combine understanding the patient with controlling him (allegedly in his own best interests)."