Analyzing Psychotherapy: A Social Role Interpretation

(Hardback)

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This book reinterprets psychotherapy from a social role perspective, permitting a "grand-synthesis" that seeks to explain many of the apparent contradictions in contemporary therapy, and challenging the usual definitions of therapy in terms of personality, behaviour, and mental illness. Dr Fein surveys all major therapies, placing them in a role-change context. He documents how each approach specializes in different aspects of role change, and shows that therapies differ only in their level of intervention, phase of re-socialization addressed, or barrier to change tackled. All therapies, Fein argues, are inherently psychosocial. In the work's early chapters, Fein demonstrates that a sociological role perspective offers a full account of what therapy is and how it works; summarizes the resocialization paradigm; and discusses the different levels of intervention (support, socialization, and re-socialization). Chaper 3 shows how ostensibly different forms of therapy compare in the aspects of role change in which they specialize, and begins the translation of psychotherapeutic jargon into role-change language by giving a brief overview of where prominent therapies fit into the classifications. In Chapter 4, after presenting a succinct history of Freud's contributions to psychoanalysis, Fein relates particular parts of Freud's work to resocialization. Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 discuss various therapy styles and their relation to the author's resocialization approach, including the ecological therapies (family and community), the "Romantics" (Jungian, Gestalt, primal scream, existential) and the "Academics" (behaviour modification, cognitive, and stress management). Chapter 9 asserts that some therapies are actually nontherapeutic because they encourage non-role-change solutions. In his conclusion, Fein emphasizes the ubiquity of resocialization interventions and reiterates the place of sociology in this scheme.

Reviews

"Analyzing Psychotherapy is a companion volume to Fein's earlier work, Role Change: A Resocialization Perspective. This volume provides a solid theoretical base for the resocialization perspective and provides a social role interpretation of psychotherapy. By use of comparison and contrast, Fein is able to apply resocialization to numerous psychotherapies. This is important reading for any mental health professional who wished to use the resocialization perspective."- Novella Perrin Central Missouri State University
"Fein presents an illuminating and plausible schema for making sense out of an otherwise confusing and overlapping array of psychotherapies. By focussing on the process of resocializing a person's social roles, the similarities and differences of each form of psychotherapy can easily and nonoffensively be compared. Every practicing psychotherapist regardless of their theoretical orientation could benefit from Fein's thought-provoking analysis. Fein's writing style, wit, and convincing argumentation make the book hard to put down. But beware, it has the potential of revolutionizing the perspective and practice of the reader. Highly recommended also for students pursuing careers in the helping professions."- Phillip D. Robinette, Ph.D Chair, Division of Social Sciences, Southern California College
"This is an excellent book presenting an innovative, integrated approach to understanding and doing therapy--a social role framework. . . . Through the deep insight and pragmatic suggestions for evoking therapeutic change outlined in his book, Dr. Fein has presented the therapeutic community with an unprecedented gift--the means to facilitate clients through a role change process through which they can relinquish defective roles and move on to roles more satisfying for themselves as well as others. What more could we ask"-Beverley Cuthbertson-Johnson Certified Clinical Sociologist Director, Manning-Wilson Center

Author Bio

MELVYN L. FEIN, a pioneer in the area of resocialization, teaches applied sociology at Kennesaw State College, Marietta, Georgia. He has over twenty years of experience in providing counseling and therapy services in settings including a mental health center, a psychiatric hospital, a vocational rehabilitation agency, and private practice. He is the author of Role Change: A Resocialization Perspective (Praeger, 1990) and is completing a work dealing with anger management.