Debunking Primal Therapy

“Despite his own extravagant claims (1, 27) of a revolutionary new procedure with miraculous cures, Janov’s theory and approach are clearly Freudian.  Janov was a practicing analyst who moved from a focus on insight to stressing that the roots of neurosis lie in childhood trauma and repression, and that the cure is catharsis.

    Janov’s position is compellingly simple. The sole cause of psychopathology is blocked painful emotions, and the single cure is to re-experience these painful emotions.” (p. 137)

“Janov also applies his theory to psychoses as well as to other patterns of maladaptive living such as alcoholism, homosexuality, schizophrenia, and drug addiction… he states clearly that all of these forms of pathology result from frustrated needs and consequent repressed emotion…

     Various props, including teddy bears, cribs, baby bottles, punching bags, and life-size photos of the parents are used to assist the processes of memory (10).  Even a birth simulator, constructed of rubber inner tubes, is used to expel patients from a rubber womb.” (p.138)

 

“Janov’s approach is a frontal assault on the defences.  Even before therapy begins a new patient is instructed to isolate himself in a motel room with no distractions, and to remain awake for twenty-four hours before his first session.  Janov explains (1), ‘The isolation and sleeplessness are important techniques which often brings patients close to a Primal.  The aim of isolation is to deprive the patient of all his usual outlets for tension, while the sleeplessness tends to weaken his remaining defences; he has fewer resources to fight off his feelings.’  In therapy, tension-reducing behaviors, such as assuming a humble or polite tone, or foot tapping, finger drumming, or smoking are not allowed. The therapist constantly batters the patient’s defences and insists that emotions be experienced, not discussed.” (p.139)

 

“There are no studies of Janov’s procedures, so we cannot know if any or many of his patients become suicidally depressed.  However, data that show a relatively high number of psychological casualties resulting from encounter groups suggest that primal therapy may very well also produce some walking wounded.” (p.139)

 

“Janov does encourage his patients to drop out of their normal routines and devote full time to therapy.  Not working for six months may make repression a safer prospect, but even this may have complications, since some people require a certain amount of structure.  For these patients, an extended period of withdrawal and regression may be very damaging.” (p.139)

 

“Once uncovered, impulses need to be selectively channelled into apropriate forms of gratification.  Janov fails to see this as a problem, because he assumes that once emotions are discharged, the needs and impulses for which they are dispositions automatically disappear.  In fact, however, instead of being at peace, the undefended person will probably be at the mercy of his impulses.” (p. 141)

 

“Much of the positive evidence for the effectiveness of primal therapy is testimonial; on the other side of the ledger, some of Janov’s patients report his approach as an intolerable emotional brainwashing.” (p. 141)

 

“On the basis of some questionable physiological measures of outcome, he finds a significant decrease in residual tension following primal therapy – for instance a decrease in frequency and amplitude of cortical EEG which he claims reflects a decrease in neurotic defensiveness, although EEG experts regard this imputed association as totally unfounded.  Furthermore, Janov fails to offer the kind of data, such as the stimulus conditions under which the recordings were made, that would allow these findings to be scrutinized.” (p.141)

 

“With stunningly unsophisticated logic, he attempts to equate the drop in rectal temperature with therapeutic improvement…” (p. 141)

 

“He reports that post-primal therapy patients engage less in what he considers to be neurotically conpulsive activities, such as sex, religion, smoking, drinking, and political activism.  That is, his model of psychological health is passive non-involvement with life.” (p. 141)

 

“A detached view of Primal therapy is difficult to achieve, partly because of Janov’s own behavior.  His refusal to acknowledge the contributions of his predecessors is parochial, and his claim for the originality of Primal therapy entirely ignores both folk wisdom and the history of psychotherapy.  Janov’s theory of personality development is merely a restatement of Freud’s traumatic theory of neurosis.” (p. 142)

 

“The idea that defenses must be dismantled to uncover repressed material was pioneered by Freud and refined by Reich, and long before Janov, Fritz Perls had developed techniques to achieve deep emotional release.” (p. 142) 

 

“Janov’s theory of psycho-pathological development is intuitively appealing because it suggests that basic needs are physiological, not psychological.  This Reichian notion helps to highlight the vulnerability of the infant.  The reductionist logic also draws attention away from the psychological trials and tribulations of adolescence and adulthood.  It is a little like assuming that since the Mississippi River originates with melted snow, when the river becomes polluted, the snow must be dirty.   That may be one place to look, but there are others downstream, as well.” (p. 142)

 

“Unfortunately, primal theory and practice are not flexible; instead, the therapist tends to orchestrate the feelings of patients to conform to a theory.” (p. 143)

 

“Having been told that ‘birth primals’ are the ultimate cathartic event, primal patients often engage in convulsive thrashing, wailing, and screaming, reactions that seem less the spontaneous release of feeling than desperate attempts to do what the theory says is necessary.” (p. 143)

 

“Janov claims that primal patients do more than remember and ventilate – they literally relive repressed core experiences, feeling the same feelings, but expressing them for the first time.  This claim rests on the naive assumption that emotions are stored in pure form for a substantial number of years, an assumption he shares with other cathartic therapists.  However. it seems more likely that the emotions expressed during primal scenes represent adult frustrations, or the affective component of the adult’s thoughts about the sadness of the child.” (p.143)

[Chapter 7 References (p. 243-244) most relevant to above quotations:

1.    A. Janov. The Primal Scream. New York: Dell, 1970.

10. S. Keen. "Sing the Body Electric," Psychology Today, 4(1970), 56-88;

5(1970), 59-61.

27. A. Janov. The Anatomy of Mental Illness. New York: G.P. Putman's Sons,

1971.

28. W. Kaufman. "An Anatomy of the Primal Revolution," Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 14(1974), 49-62.]