ABSTRACT

Whereas most forms of psychotherapy and social psychiatry exist either alongside or within mainstream psychiatry, there are other therapeutic philosophies which directly challenge its core assumptions. Some of these ideologies, such as Scientology, are quasi-mystical creeds which have very little in common with even the more avant garde schools of psychotherapy. The impact of such cults on mainstream concepts of mental distress and mental health is negligible. Others, such as the existentialist psychiatry of R. D. Laing and his associates in the Philadelphia Association and the libertarian psychiatry of Thomas Szasz, have influenced opinions about mental health issues amongst mental health professionals, mental health service users and sections of the intelligentsia. Unlike the founders of ‘therapy cults’ like Scientology, who are usually lay people, these critics are more likely to be psychiatrists, psychotherapists or psychologists with concerns about the power of psychiatrists and the lack of autonomy of users of mental health services.