Changing Minds: The History of Psychotherapy As an Answer to Human Suffering

Changing Minds is an accessible history of psychotherapy, introducing its key figures (from Freud to Beck) and explaining their most important ideas. The book shows how psychotherapy has influenced our understanding of the mind and its workings, particularly with respect to the form of suffering that we call 'mental illness'. Frank Tallis argues that, in a world in which the old certainties of religion have been brought into question by the advance of science, psychotherapy represents a secular response to suffering. Unlike many boos of psychology, Changing Minds explores the personalities of the field's major figures, as well as their ideas. Throughout, the author shows how historical and cultural events, such as the Holocaust and the invention of the computer, have influenced ideas about the mind, and vice versa. Crammed with entertaining and informative vignettes, and many references to theatre, and literature, this book places scientific developments in a cultural context, making it both accessible and interesting.