The discovery of the unconscious. the history and evolution of dynamic psychiatry

Abstract

A review of H. F. ELLENBERGER's book, The Discovery of the Unconscious, opens up this section. In this monumental work the author shows how the main schools of dynamic psychiatry over the past two centuries had their roots in the broad cultural movements of their time. A wide perspective of psychotherapeutic approaches ranging from faith healing to psychoanalysis is presented. J. ZUBIN highlights cultural factors regarding etiological models of schizophrenia and regarding the diagnosis of this illness. He comprehensively discusses emerging trends in descriptive psychopathology and cross-cultural studies. E. F. TORREY has provided us with a preview of his book, The Mind Game: Witchdoctors and Psychiatrists. Based on his experiences in several cultures he has identified com monalities in the activities of psychotherapists all over the world. He offers models based on his experiences with different ethnic groups for future mental health services for these groups and others. The last paper in this section concerns itself with the application of verbal psychological tests in translation for cross-cultural psychological or psychiatric purposes. K. GLATT compared differences in the responses to the MMPI in French, Spanish, and German translations (see also R. Prince and W. Mombour, Transcultural Psychiatric Research. © 1971, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.