Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People

I was a Psychology major in college back in the early 60's but pursued marriage rather than a career. But, then, there is absolutely nothing one can do with a BA in Psychology. Still,I felt deceived and totally let down by my studies and remember leaving college thinking that Psychology is scientifically inexact and based primarily on the whimsical thought of its promoters. Because it leaves God totally out of its equations for mental and emotional health, there is no foundation of truth for its conclusions. And though I have continued to be fascinated by writings on the pursuit of mental health, I decided it was not in me to fulfill my former desire of becoming a paid, professional counselor if all I had to go on was the flimflam of introspective theory. How refreshing to discover this book which confirms my point of view! The book is well researched and documented and includes many case studies that make for an interesting read. It has had a profound effect on my life in causing me to be more open to people as they are and allowing them the grace to come through the hardships in their own lives without imposing on them labels and unfounded prognoses. Further, MANFACTURING VICTIMS caused me to shed all residual co-dependent tendencies by seeing how much harm is done to others when we make them think they need us to solve life's problems. Being available to others is one thing; making ourselves indispensable robs them of all opportunity to grow and develop through their afflictions. Virginia Rogers

Anyone who is a psychologist should read this. Tana is so sensible and so right. Readers who like this book will also enjoy 'Destructive trends in mental health.' The profession of psychology needs to take a close look at itself.

When a tragedy occurs at some school, office or worksite, policemen, firefighters, paramedics or rescue workers will rush to the scene to provide a much-needed service, saving lives. Increasingly, however, we see another so-called helping professional on the scene - the trauma or grief counsellor - who's been called in to save psyches.Somehow, it's now the norm after every school shooting, car crash or airline disaster to bring in psychologists who, Moses-like, will lead those who survive the tragedy or even witnessed it to the promised land of "wellness." Somehow we've come to accept the idea that stranger with a few initials behind her name is needed to help us deal with the experience of violence or death. Where did we ever get the infantile idea that after some tragedy - a parent's loss of a child, for example - we're supposed to be "healed"? Dr. Tana Dineen, in her book "Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People," answers to that question. And a fine and devastating answer it is. Well-researched, sharply focussed and leavened with numerous concrete examples, her critique of the profession of psychology should make you want to, well, burn your self-help books and motivational tapes.The opening paragraph neatly sums up her argument: "Psychology presents itself as a concerned and caring profession working for the good of its clients, but the effects are damaged people, divided families, distorted justice, destroyed companies and a weakened nation." That's a stinging indictment. And after you read Ms. Dineen's book you'll be hard pressed not to agree with it. Certainly, Dineen is careful to acknowledge that in the hands of dedicated researchers, psychology remains a respected field of scientific inquiry. The focus of her scorn is the clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and sundry counsellors and mental health practitioners who distort or ignore the research and reduce it to ego-stroking psychobabble and feel-good placebos. A PhD in psychology herself, Dineen spent nearly 20 years as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in Ontario. In the mid-1990s, she packed it in. As she put it in an interview: "I couldn't maintain my integrity in a profession that is almost devoid of integrity. This book is my apology for decades of biting my lip about the pernicious effects psychologists are having on individuals and society."Perhaps her most explosive argument is that refuting the concept of recovered memories. Dineen cites numerous cases where people, usually men, have been falsely accused of sexual abuse crimes based on such "memories." According to Dineen, there is no reputable scientific evidence that these memories are anything more than fanciful inventions. Because of this and other misuses of research, Dineen says psychologists should be barred from testifying in court as "experts" on human behaviour. Indeed, most of what psychologists is little more that job-creation, she argues. Therapists n

Make certain to read this book -- it injects a healthy dose of reality into the popular view of psychology. It also points out the many angles from which psychology bombards the average consumer. The necessity for psychology is ingrained in Americans, and for a person to reject its "truths" is so shocking, we must conclude that the person is in denial. Note to the editors: the past tense of "LEAD a horse to water" is "LED a horse to water."

What some readers have been saying about MANUFACTURING VICTIMS: "This book is dynamite and I can't wait to see the reaction. Manufacturing Victims is a sizzling expose of the Psychology Industry. While showing tremendous compassion towards real victims of rape, accidents and torture, Dr. Tana Dineen skillfully takes the Psychology Industry to task for destroying families, promoting hostile views of men and women, promoting distrust and suspicion, and misusing science." Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, Professor of Psychology, University of Washington, co-author, The Myth of Repressed Memory "Manufacturing Victims is a spirited and deeply principled critique of the inanities and abuses of contemporary psychology. Let us hope it serves as a welcome antidote for our society's spreading addiction to toxic therapy." Theodore Roszak, author,The Making of a Counter Culture "A devastating critique of the business of psychotherapy. Well done. Badly needed. Long overdue. It will make a lot of people mad. I hope it makes them take a hard look at the sins of the profession. Dr. Sam Keen, former editor, Psychology Today, author, A Fire in the Belly "This penetrating, insightful and carefully documented expose will add depth and power to the national chorus of voices calling for legislative reform of the mental health industry. Dr. Dineen has performed a major service to vulnerable consumers and taxpayers who are too often called upon to bear the burdens of dangerous experimental procedures and other forms of consumer fraud disguised as `mental health treatment.'" Prof. R. Christopher Barden, President, National Associationfor Consumer Protection in Mental Health Practices "As many of us are aware, many clinical psychologists and psychriatists are `manufacturing victims,' and living off their creations, who are, sadly, real people. All of us concerned with what is going on can profit greatly from reading this book cover to cover." Dr. Robyn Dawes, Acting Department Head, Department ofSocial and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University,author, House of Cards: Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth