Dr. Arthur Janov, Primal Scream Therapy
Anyone living in the 70′s remembers hearing about this therapy where patients, through a lot of testing and coaching, are taught this principle of screaming, which is supposed to release tension, bring back memories, and overall help people in mental states that they’re trying to get out of.
Primal therapy was created by a doctor named Arthur Janov. His premise was that if people could relive childhood pains and fears in some fashion that it would help them break through some of the mental anguish they were having. It supposedly came to him when one of his patients was looking back through his memories, got really emotional at one point, and screamed. Afterwards the patient supposedly felt better, as if he had released a lot of bad memories, and the good doctor felt that maybe this was the way to go for many other people.
Primal Scream Therapy
In one way it seems to make a little bit of sense. Most people are known for holding in a lot of their frustrations, which creates tension. Many psychologists feel that getting those frustrations and feelings out into the open is the beginning of a person getting past those things and being ready to progress and learn how to be more positive. Some believe venting in some fashion can help people to break the bonds and move forward.
While that may be true, primal therapy gets almost no respect from most of the psychiatric community. There hasn’t been a lot of testing on the process, and those tests that have been done don’t confirm that primal therapy works as well as Dr. Janov says it does. One study in particular came back with a 50-50 ratio of success and failure, which led those doing the study to conclude that primal therapy wasn’t an effective method of treatment. Oh yeah; the ratio ended 50-50, but one person committed suicide after going through the process.
Another complaint about the therapy is that it “helps” some patients recreate things from their childhood that never happened. This is a problem with some types of regression therapy, where false memories will suddenly come into play, and it has harmed many people later on, especially those who had problems defining reality to begin with.
Even though there are still a few practitioners of primal therapy, including Dr. Janov’s clinic in California, it’s probably not a good idea to pursue this type of therapy, based on stories and the lack of any true clinical evidence.
See more:
National Alliance of Mental Illness
Rock Band Tears for Fears and Primal Scream Therapy
Dr. Arthur Janov’s Primal Therapy Center in Los Angeles, CA
