Despair and the Return of Hope: Echoes of Mourning in Psychotherapy

Abstract

The reviewer states that "Despair and the Return of Hope: Echoes of Mourning in Psychotherapy" by Peter Shabad (see record 2002-01129-000) consisting mainly of Shabad's personal opinions that should have at least indicated, from the outset, his allegiance to a psychoanalytic perspective, where the unconscious is used as an excuse or reason for almost all ills of humanity. Of the 176 references, only 17 cited works published after the 1990s. Completely ignored is the vast research literature on death and dying, including at least two journals in the area of tanatology. Long on poetically phrased opinions and short on evidence, except for references to the authority of founders of psychoanalysis (Freud) and objectrelations theory (Winnicott), with lip service to a few humanists (Kierkegaard, Maslow, and May), this book reaches what this reviewer would consider questionable professional practices bordering on the unethical, at least for a psychologist. No baseline or objective evaluation is administered, and no more cost-effective and, very likely, more efficient methods of treatment are suggested, like EMDR, hypnosis, or even therapeutic writing. It might appeal to therapists who are similarly inclined, still hanging on to the past, denying the present, and ignoring the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)