FREE CONSTRUCTING THE SELF, CONSTRUCTING AMERICA: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF PSYCHOTHERAPY PDF Philip Cushman | 448 pages | 30 Sep 1996 | The Perseus Books Group | 9780201441925 | English | Cambridge, MA, United States Constructing The Self, Constructing America: A Cultural History Of Psychotherapy by Philip Cushman Rhetoric of therapy is a concept coined by American academic Dana L. Cloud to describe "a set of political and cultural discourses that have adopted psychotherapy's lexicon—the conservative language of healing, coping, adaptation, and restoration of previously existing order—but in contexts of social and political conflict". Constructing the Self argued that the rhetoric of therapy encourages people to focus on themselves and their private lives rather than attempt to reform flawed systems of social and political power. This form of persuasion is primarily used by politicians, managers, journalists and entertainers as a way to cope with the crisis of the American Dream. The rhetoric of therapy has two functions, according to Cloud: 1 to exhort conformity with the prevailing social order and 2 to encourage identification Constructing the Self therapeutic values: individualismfamilism, self-helpand self- absorption. The origins of therapeutic discourse, along with advertising and other consumerist cultural forms, emerged during the industrialization of the West during the 18th century. The new emphasis on the acquisition of wealth during this period produced discourse about the "democratic self- determination of individuals conceived as autonomous, self-expressive, self-reliant subjects" or, in short, the " self-made man ". Therefore, the language of personal responsibility, adaptation, and healing served not to liberate the working class, the poor, and the socially marginalized, but to persuade members of these classes that they are individually responsible for their plight. One prominent movement that developed from the rhetoric of therapy was the self-help movement, which encouraged its audiences to take personal responsibility for solving their problems without attention to race, class, and gender issues. Cloud analyzed different case studies to show how the established order is maintained by redirecting blame from the hegemonic system to the individual. Cloud said that the rhetoric of family values blames the absence of the "traditional" family as the cause of social ills. The rhetoric of therapy is used to divert attention from issues caused by hegemonic systems by promoting the idea that restoration of the traditional family structure will result in a harmonious society. A second example of the rhetoric of Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy is illustrated in Cloud's discussion of the extensive media coverage of groups that supported the Gulf War. Cloud says that Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy media intentionally devoted significant attention to groups that supported the war in an effort to instill blame, guilt, shame, and anxiety in individuals who openly opposed the war. Cloud writes that this was a government effort to Constructing the Self the nation's perception and response to the war that many deemed unjust. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Community organizing Community psychology Critical psychology Critical theory Liberation psychology Psychopolitical validity Radical Psychology Network Victim mentality. Biopsychiatry controversy Controversy surrounding psychiatry Critical psychiatry Hearing Voices Movement History of mental disorders Involuntary commitment Involuntary treatment Martha Mitchell effect Medical ethics Medicalization medical model Outline of the psychiatric survivors movement Political abuse of psychiatry Psychiatric survivors movement Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Psychoanalytic theory Recovery approach Rhetoric of therapy Rosenhan experiment Self-help groups for mental health Therapeutic community. Categories : Anti-psychiatry Critical theory Psychotherapy. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links. Psychiatry portal. Rhetoric of therapy - Wikipedia This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables. This is an ambitious book. It seeks to describe the manner in which the concept of "self" has been defined and experienced in various historical eras in America, to explain how psychotherapy contributed to this concept, and finally to criticize psychotherapy's contributions and argue that it needs to change direction. The author is not completely successful in all these endeavors, but he does succeed in producing an interesting, contentious, and clearly written book. Cushman, a historian and practicing psychologist, lays out his major themes and biases in his first two chapters, which can be summarized by the following passages: "over the last years, American history has become a history of the modern ills of isolation, uncertainty and doubt"; "the current configuration of the self is the empty self Liskow B. Coronavirus Resource Center. All Rights Reserved. Twitter Constructing the Self Email. This Issue. Barry Liskow, MD. First Page Preview View Large. Save Preferences. Privacy Policy Terms of Use. Sign in to access your subscriptions Sign in to your personal account. Institutional sign in: OpenAthens Shibboleth. Create a free personal account to download free article PDFs, sign up for alerts, and more. Purchase access Subscribe to the journal. Sign in to download free article PDFs Sign in to access your subscriptions Sign in to your personal account. Get free access to newly published articles Create a personal account or sign in to: Register for email alerts with links to free full-text articles Access PDFs of free articles Manage your interests Save searches and receive search alerts. Get free access to newly published articles. Create a personal account to register for email alerts with links to free full-text articles. Sign in to save your search Sign in to your personal account. Create a free personal account to access your Constructing the Self, sign up for alerts, and more. Purchase access Subscribe now. Purchase access Subscribe to JN Learning for one year. Sign in to Constructing the Self your interests Sign in Constructing the Self your personal account. Create a free personal account to download free article PDFs, sign up for alerts, customize your interests, and Constructing the Self. Privacy Policy. Sign in to make a comment Sign in to your personal account. Create a free personal account to make a comment, download free article PDFs, sign up for alerts and more. Our website uses cookies to enhance your experience. Cushman has traveled a most unusual path to the Psy. For Constructing the Self, he worked as a professional pizza deliverer and an inspector of fire extinguishers and attended five different graduate programs in five different academic fields. His first graduate school was a rabbinic seminary, but then civil rights and anti-war activism moved him in other academic directions in the late s and earlys. In that program he had the great good fortune to study under Ed Sampson, the most important critical social psychologist of the post- World War II era, and Tony Stigliano, a gifted philosopher who introduced him to hermeneutics through the works of Martin Heidegger and Hans- Georg Gadamer. In Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy, Dr. Cushman was hired as an adjunct at the California School of Professional Psychology. They began to plan APA programs together and developed an annual hermeneutics party, which became famous for good talk and good times. By helping him develop an understanding of hermeneutics, he believes they saved his intellectual life, and he owes Constructing the Self much gratitude. Cushman developed his theoretical orientation in hermeneutics and relational psychoanalysis. Cushman specializes in utilizing interventions that focus on the relationship between patient and social context, patient and therapist, teacher and student. He believes that humans are always in relation to one another, to society, and to the historical traditions that constitute us. We live them out, and yet we must also critique them. Cushman now lives on Vashon Island in Puget Sound where he maintains a private practice and continues his historical research and writing. Cushman is keenly involved in the dissertation process of his students, Constructing America: A Cultural History of Psychotherapy has invited students to be part of the professional community through invitations to several intellectual and clinical events in the Northwest. Cushman is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in Washington and California, and is currently writing two books about the self. During his free time, Dr. Cushman in involved in the synagogue on Vashon Island, where he participates in a weekly Torah study group. Register Log in Shopping cart 0. You have no items in your shopping cart. Philip Cushman. Be the first to review this product. Extracurricular Interests During his free time, Dr. Click To Order Book. Product tags. Customer service. My account. Follow us. All rights reserved. Powered by nopCommerce..