primal therapy

American  

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a form of psychotherapy in which the patient is encouraged to relive traumatic events, often screaming or crying, in order to achieve catharsis and a breakdown of psychological defenses.

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primal therapy British  

noun

1. Also called: primal scream therapy, scream therapy. psychol a form of psychotherapy in which patients are encouraged to scream abusively about their parents and agonizingly about their own suffering in infancy

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Etymology

Origin of primal therapy

An Americanism dating back to 1970–75

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

primal therapy

Part notebook, part incantation, part primal therapy, it is so esoteric it sometimes seems as if it were written in a language with just one speaker left.

From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2019

In 1971, Janov told reporters, “In the future, there will be no need for a field called psychology,” because primal therapy would cure “80 per cent of all ailments.”

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 31, 2019

In 1977, Dr. Janov sued the publication Psychology Today for $7.1 million in libel damages for describing primal therapy as “jabberwocky.”

From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2017

As with many other emotional-release therapies of its time, primal therapy is today widely rejected by mental health professionals as unscientific and ineffectual.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 3, 2017

He tried primal therapy, went in search of his real parents and on a friend's farm bumped his head on one of the last vestiges of '60s idealism: communal living.

From Time Magazine Archive

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