PRIMAL THERAPY

PRIMAL THERAPY, one of a cluster of "New Age" therapies that emerged during the 1970s, was pioneered by Dr. Arthur Janov. These therapies generally rejected the basic tenets of modern medicine and psychotherapy in favor of techniques and theories that purported to treat disorders holistically. Janov's primal scream therapy was based on the concept of repressed trauma. Janov suggested that early childhood trauma, perhaps even the trauma of birth itself, was the source of adult neurosis as well as a host of physical disorders, such as addiction, arthritis, and heart disease, he thought rooted in neurosis. His method for healing called for adults to re-experience the pain associated with early trauma, and in so doing, to release previously repressed memories about frightening or abusive experiences. Patients were encouraged to scream, cry, or otherwise express themselves to facilitate the therapeutic process. By unearthing these "primal" feelings and integrating them with memories, adults could move forward free of damaging psychic wounds thought to be the source of various physical and mental problems.

The concept of repressed memory of child abuse, which lies at the root of primal therapy, became highly controversial. A groundswell of popular interest in the theory led to a rash of claims by adults who believed they had, through primal therapies, uncovered memories of childhood trauma. Some of these claims even led to serious criminal charges; yet upon further investigation many examples of recalled abuse or trauma proved false. Further controversy surrounded practitioners of primal therapy who tried to re-create the birth trauma for their patients when a child died during the therapy. Thirty years after its introduction, primal therapy, and related techniques based on the concept of repressed traumatic memory, continued to attract patients interested in holistic healing. The near unanimous rejection of these techniques by mainstream therapeutic professionals, however, assured that they remained a cultural rather than a clinical force.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gardner, Martin. "Primal Scream: A Persistent New Age Therapy." Skeptical Inquirer 25:3 (May/June 2001): 17–19.

Janov, Arthur. The Primal Scream: Primal Therapy—The Cure for Neurosis. New York: Putnam, 1970.

Loren ButlerFeffer

See alsoNew Age Movement .