ABSTRACT
Dr. Wolpe’s chapter exemplifies what makes much of the modern literature on psychotherapy, to me at least, unsatisfactory and uninspiring. Everything he says is couched in jargon. Prominently disfiguring the text are such terms as “endogenous-neurotic,” “dysthymic disorder,” “secondary dysphorias,” “mixed pathologies,” “nonbipolar,” and, of course, “patient” and “treatment.” Like the woman in the famous Wendy’s ad who asked “Where is the beef?”, I cannot help but ask “Where is the illness? Where is the treatment?” They are nowhere in sight. All that is in sight is Dr. Wolpe’s claim of his success in “treating” 22 out of 25 persons who came to see him, I assume, voluntarily. Dr. Wolpe doesn’t even tell us that.
