Jonathan Engel Boeken

From Freud to Zoloft, the first comprehensive history of American Psychotherapy Fifty percent of Americans will undergo some form of psychotherapy in their lifetimes, but the origins of the field are rarely known to patients. Yet the story of psychotherapy in America brims with colorful characters, intriguing experimental treatments, and intense debates within this community of healers. American Therapy begins, as psychotherapy itself does, with the monumental figure of Sigmund Freud. The book outlines the basics of Freudian theory and discusses the peculiarly powerful influence of Freud on the world of American mental health. The book moves through the emergence of group therapy, the rise of psychosurgery, the evolution of uniquely American therapies such as Gestalt, rebirthing, and primal scream therapy, and concludes with the modern world of psychopharmacology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and highly targeted short-term therapies. For a counseled nation that freely uses terms such as “emotional baggage” and no longer stigmatizes mental health care, American Therapy is a remarkable history of an extraordinary enterprise.

Federal funding played a pivotal role in reshaping university culture and the American higher education system in the decades following World War II. The book explores how these financial resources acted as catalysts for significant transformations, highlighting the interplay between government support and academic development during this critical period.

The estimated annual health care cost of obesity-related illness in the United States is $190 billion, with countless more costs in lost mobility, vigor, and life-years. Here, Jonathan Engel reviews the sources of the problem as they have developed over the past 70 years and offers a realistic plan for helping address obesity.