Word: janov
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AFTER THE TIDE of pseudo-psychological half-theories of the late sixties, many critics have refused to take Arthur Janov seriously. But Janov's contribution is unusually promising, for it suggest a combination of psychological theory with theories of social consciousness and of linguistics...
...first volume, The Primal Scream, published three year ago, provoked intense personal reactions, both in those to whose common sense Janov appealed and in those who claimed the book was unmitigated nonsense. Almost all the people I know who have read the book were visibly upset by it. None were psychology majors and, therefore, they were all relatively unaccustomed to "intellectualizing" about psychology. While reading Janov's chapter on "The Nature of Feeling," I discovered I was reliving, in rather vivid detail, several childhood experiences I would have thought I'd entirely forgotten. I am not surprised by those...
...great usefullness of The Primal Scream, though, stems from the theoretical issues Janov raises. Unfortunately, his critics rarely discuss him on theoretical grounds. Competing psychologists smirk and point out connections between Primal Theory and older theories, most of which Janov acknowledges in The Primal Scream. Some claim that various other therapies can be helpful and hardly address the substance of Janov's work. Some critics strike at Janov's often naive language, undoubtedly a vulnerable point but not an excuse for avoiding the usefulness of his ideas. Janov clearly leaves himself open to such criticism, saying things like...