Therapy Culture Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age

We air our feelings and dirty laundry on television talk shows. Many Americans rely on advice from a therapist to get them through daily crises and boost our self-esteem. The news media constantly relays stories of people "at risk." And our lunch conversations are sprinkled with the phrases "scarred for life," "emotionally fragile," and "How did I get here."
Frank Furedi, author of the critically acclaimed "Paranoid Parenting," turns his sharp eye to explore the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in contemporary society in his latest book "Therapy Culture." In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn toward the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of who we are. Increasingly vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of our psyches.
Furedi questions the widely accepted notions that this new culture represents an enlightened shift towards emotionsand shows how this turn is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of our emotions.
Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapy culture incites everyone to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, politics, and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of modern life.

First published in 2004. Therapy Culture explores the powerful influence of therapeutic imperative in Anglo-American societies. In recent decades virtually every sphere of life has become subject to a new emotional culture. Professor Furedi suggests that the recent cultural turn towards the realm of the emotions coincides with a radical redefinition of personhood. Increasingly, vulnerability is presented as the defining feature of people's psychology. Terms like 'at risk', 'scarred for life' or 'emotional damage' evoke a unique sense of powerlessness. Furedi questions widely accepted thesis that the therapeutic culture is primarily about imposing a new conformity through the management of people's emotions. Through framing the problem of everyday life through the prism of emotions, therapeutic culture incites people to feel powerless and ill. Drawing on developments in popular culture, political and social life, Furedi provides a path-breaking analysis of the therapeutic turn.

Introduction; Chapter 1 The culture of emotionalism; Chapter 2 The politics of emotion; Chapter 3 Targeting privacy and informal relations; Chapter 4 How did we get here?; Chapter 5 The diminished self; Chapter 6 The self at risk; Chapter 7 Fragile identity; Chapter 8 Conferring recognition; Chapter 9 Therapeutic claims-making and the demand for a diagnosis; Final thoughts;

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, Canterbury.