This page collects together my work on psychotherapy which may be found throughout the site. A brief history; this is inspired by my own experiences of psychotherapy with Leon Redler, an apprentice of R.D.Laing, with his 'highly recommended colleague' Ms Sheelagh Christophas and a one year stay in a 'therapeutic community household' run by the Philadelphia Association, which was founded by R.D.Laing and others to put his ideas into practice.

If you read nothing else the one essential point about psychotherapy is that it costs money - quite a lot of it. Pyshotherapists like to present themselves as for example 'a benign guide and friend and helper' and tend to try to wave away the fact that they are charging a fee for being a guide, friend and helper. But the point is; paying someone else to be a friend is demeaning. Paying someone for emotional support is demeaning.

I was attracted to therapy because, in part, it seemed to address concerns I felt, quite intensely, as a young man, about a lack of compassion in this society. Some of the language of therapy does indeed seem to reflect a concern of compassion. But, what is really happening is a commercial exploitation of the lack of compassion in this society. Capitalism can put a price on anything, can turn anything into a commodity. With therapy we have solidarity marketed to the confused at around £20 - £40 an hour.

List of articles about psychotherapy on this site

Title	Summary
Psychotherapy	Critical essay about psychotherapy
Psychotherapy reading list	Some books about psychotherapy	Psychotherapy reading list
A year in a therapeutic community household	A description of life in a therapeutic community household. The resemblance to a Victorian asylum is striking
Leon Redler - a story of disillusionment	Guru or immature student?