ABSTRACT
Modern psychology and psychotherapy are deeply motivated by a humane and compassionate desire to relieve human suffering of many kinds. However, they have concentrated almost exclusively on eradicating pain, suffering, and their causes in order to foster human freedom and fulfillment, at least as they delineate them. In doing so, psychology has uncritically perpetuated several questionable modern ideologies. These include a one-sided individualism and an overriding commitment to expanding instrumental control over events and oneself, ideals which foster a number of worthy ethical and practical outcomes but are distinctly limited and by themselves quite damaging or self-defeating in the long run. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
