Popular Psychology - An Encyclopedia (2005)
Luis A. Cordon Ph.D.
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“Given the questionable, indeed bizarre, theoretical underpinning of primal therapy, the absence of controlled scientific evidence is unsurprising. …
Janov has more recently attempted (in his latest book, The Biology of Love ) to connect his ideas to more conventional knowledge in neuroscience, in the hope of gaining greater scientific legitimacy. In agreeing with neurochemists that becoming emotionally upset and screaming can cause a release of endorphins, which of course will produce a feeling of well-being, he actually harms his case more than he helps it. This phenomenon is also well-known among athletes, after all, and there is no reason to believe that the “runner’s high” is associated with the release of repressed trauma. The strenuous activity provides a complete explanation of the phenomenon.
The Primal Scream was published more than thirty years ago, and primal therapy is essentially unaltered from its earliest state—while undeniably an inventive and intriguing approach to psychotherapy, it lacks the underpinning of scientific validation which potential clients ought to be able to expect at this point in our history.”
Popular Psychology - An Encyclopedia (2005), Luis A. Cordon. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32457-3 http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/GR2457.aspx.
