Therapeutic Choices

In this chapter, we will compare similarities and differences between psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, and psychopharmacology, especially as a referral for a personal choice for therapy. We will browse some historical facts concerning each one of them, to understand their peculiarities, including the Zeitgeist when they reached the peak of popularity and when they declined, swallowed by a new trend. Influencing factors of their history encompass two World Wars, traumatized war veterans, European psychoanalysts seeking asylum in the United States, and acculturation of every modality of treatment. This period also revealed a high number of people demanding mental treatment. Despite being attacked by psychiatrists, behaviorists, and cognitivists for not following the accepted norms of scientific methodology, psychoanalysis still maintains its aura of “depth psychology” (The term “depth psychology” refers to the therapies that deal with the Unconscious. It is also used as a synonym for Jungian psychology) and has influenced the American culture and mental treatment in many ways, popularizing its technical terms.