One Nation Under Therapy

How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance

By: Christina Hoff Sommers, Sally Satel

Narrated by: Dianna Dorman

Americans have traditionally placed great value on self-reliance and fortitude. Recent decades, however, have seen the rise of a therapeutic ethic that views Americans as emotionally underdeveloped, requiring the ministrations of mental-health professionals to cope with life's vicissitudes. Today, having a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every problem degrades one's native ability to cope with life's challenges.

Drawing on established science and common sense, the authors reveal how "therapism" and the burgeoning trauma industry have come to pervade our lives. Topical, provocative, and wryly amusing, One Nation Under Therapy demonstrates that "talking about" problems is no substitute for confronting them.

©2005 Christina Hoff Sommers and Sally Satel (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Sommers and Satel] review the relevant literature, letting its conclusions speak for themselves...they don't have to apply spin to be convincing....Well-written, well-informed public affairs argumentation." ( Booklist)
"Sommers and Satel's book is a summons to the sensible worry that national enfeeblement must result when 'therapism' replaces the virtues on which the republic was founded: stoicism, self-reliance, and courage." ( Washington Post)

Everyone should read this book, especially if you have kids

This is a terrific book that provides a much needed wake up call to the creeping notion that basic human emotions are pathological and all we really need is therapy. I wish I had bought the hard copy so I could go back and look at all the sentences I would've underlined. If you are at all concerned that we are becoming a nation of people who lack the will to fight and whine far too often, this book is for you. If that previous sentence drives you crazy, it is not.

Piercingly Perceptive

Christina Hoff Summers and Sally Satel shed light on a strain of thinking whose volume has steadily been filling the spaces between culture, psychology, politics, philosophy, and activism. This book is commendable to anyone trying to understand the rampant fragility and helplessness plaguing so many young Americans.

Now I understand why there are so many snowflakes

An interesting book that touches upon many of the psychological excuses used today in America

highly recommended and more relevant now.

I love this book! It is surprisingly comprehensive and well argued. I recommend it to anyone.

If you want another perspective

I was a little reluctant to get this book but glad I did. The book gives a succint analysis of the processes involved in the rise of psychology and helping, with accessible examples that we can all relate to. The central point is that seeking help has become a social necessity when mostly it unnecessary. Well written and well ordered for audio. I like the narrators voice, calming older lady. Generally the book gives a bit of balance and thought to the medicalisation of human emotions. Have a listen if you are sick of being coddled or coddling others.