ONE NATION UNDER THERAPY HOW THE HELPING CULTURE IS ERODING SELF-RELIANCE By Christina Hoff Sommers & Sally Satel Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton I like to return to New York City on occasion to remember my arrival in the United States. On one visit after 911, we stopped in a Barnes & Noble bookstore and I came across this interesting book, “One Nation Under Therapy.” I’ve been a psychotherapist for years. And like many clinicians, I’ve seen people with a broad range of symptom severity. Some of course struggled so much they required 24-hour care. Others were quite healthy but wanted a confidential sounding board-- nothing wrong with that. But the authors of One Nation Under Therapy have a point-- some in our culture are probably too dependent on outside assistance and have not learned the skills needed to independently manage the rough and tumble of daily life. As I look back on what I wrote, I think this depende...
Interdisciplinary Book Reviews is a publication of academic reviews dealing with culture. Of particular interest are works that are of interest to more than one academic discipline. Most reviews are of nonfiction works addressing some aspect of culture from the perspective of science, religion, history, or philosophy. We may earn income from purchases of advertised products or links.