Articles refuting CBT/REBT and their derivatives

August 11, 2018 10:53 PM

I'm looking for articles that argue against the use of CBT/REBT and all of their derivatives (DBT, ACT, etc) in psychology. I would specifically like articles that talk about the victim-blaming inherent in these methods. Bonus points for links to psychologists who oppose using them. I already know about Do I need to rethink my feelings about DBT? Thanks!
posted by Violet Hour to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

[A couple deleted. Please note that the OP asks for articles, and just as a quick reminder, Ask Metafilter isn't the spot for discussion or debate. Thanks.]
posted by taz at 6:15 AM on August 12, 2018

I've not looked too deeply into it, but this is a line of criticism that various Marxists employ. These were the two articles I could find, 1 & 2 . Both appear to rest on one particular book though, and neither are what I'd call a thorough investigation.
posted by AnhydrousLove at 7:33 AM on August 12, 2018

There are a great many psychologists opposing behaviorist treatment. George Atwood and Robert Stollerow have written a lot about this. I can't find any articles on line at the moment but here's a link to a youtube video from Atwood's Abnormal Psych course at Rutgers.
posted by Obscure Reference at 11:10 AM on August 12, 2018

Well, I did some Googling and found this Psychology Today article about how the psych field has decided what helps people may be procedurally flawed. It does specifically mention CBT.

There is also this Daily Mail article that has a very harsh estimation of CBT, for what that's worth.

I also stumbled on this article by Robert Stolorow (I'm not sure whether it's the same person mentioned in Obscure Reference's reply above) but it seems to be a generic critique of current trends in treatment, not specific to CBT.
posted by forthright at 3:19 PM on August 12, 2018

Papers by Richard Gipps may be of interest. He has put some on his academia.edu site here (note: these are heavily on the theoretical side of things and are unlikely to moralise about it in the way you seek in your question).
posted by leibniz at 12:57 AM on August 23, 2018

I just ran across this article (Capitalism and mental health) yesterday, and thought immediately of this ask. A little more substantial than my previous offerings. Just a couple of months old, and also reviewing a book that might interest you.
posted by AnhydrousLove at 6:41 AM on August 23, 2018