16 Facts About Primal therapy

Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma.

Primal therapy was developed as a means of eliciting the repressed pain; the term Pain is capitalized in discussions of primal therapy when referring to any repressed emotional distress and its purported long-lasting psychological effects.

An intended objective of the Primal therapy is to lessen or eliminate the hold early trauma exerts on adult behaviour.

Primal therapy became very influential during a brief period in the early 1970s, after the publication of Janov's first book, The Primal Scream.

Primal therapy argues that this unitary source of neurosis implies that there can be only one effective cure: re-experiencing.

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Primal therapy theory contends that many or most people suffer from some degree of neurosis.

The Primal therapy begins with an intensive three weeks of fifteen open-ended sessions with one therapist.

Unaffiliated groups espousing primal therapy have included the Atlantis commune established in Ireland in 1974.

Videgard concluded that therapy at The Primal Institute was marginally better than the Tavistock Clinic and markedly better than the Menninger Foundation—the two psychotherapy clinics he used for comparison.

Primal therapy has not achieved broad acceptance in mainstream psychology.

Primal therapy has sometimes been dismissed as shallow, glib, simplistic, or trendy.

Primal therapy has been rejected as dogmatic or overly reductionist.

Later she stated that primal therapy could be dangerous when conducted by inadequately trained therapists, that there was "too much faith" in cathartic discharge, that the relief was sometimes temporary, that the structure of the initial three-week intensive could provide opportunities for unscrupulous therapists, and that clients could develop an "addictive dependency" to pain.

In 1968, The Primal therapy Institute was founded by Arthur Janov and his first wife, Vivian.

The web page "John Lennon – Primal therapy" includes excerpts of interviews with John Lennon, Arthur Janov, and Vivian Janov.

Scottish rock band Primal Scream were named after the type of cry heard in primal therapy, and the British pop band Tears for Fears was directly inspired by Janov's writings.