TOW# 14 - Therapy Wars

Therapy is a very common occurrence, whether it’s for someone who has a mental illness or just for a common person, it’s helpful to everyone. Although, not many people know what therapy really is. Reading the article Therapy Wars by Oliver Burkeman, award winning journalist and writer, helps people who are in therapy or those curious about it understand two different types of therapy. There is the common form of cognitive behavioral therapy, cheap and simple ways to keep yourself happy. There is also the older form of therapy, psychoanalysis, created by Sigmund Freud, based around the idea of finding the hidden reason for your problems. Although CBT is the newer and more common method used, Burkeman offers a contrasting opinion to that CBT may not the better way to go. The language used in this article helps the author to introduce different sides of the argument. He uses strong language to explain a side of the argument. To explain the creator of the psychoanalysis method, Freud, he writes, “arguably no other notable figure in history was so fantastically wrong about nearly every important thing he had to say.” The strong words used in this quote show the that the author leaves no room for debate in this quote, he believes this is a definitive side to the argument. The author also uses rhetorical questions. These questions leave room for the reader to rethink their own opinions. Burkeman is not trying to convince the audience that one form is better than the other, he is just trying to supply a different outlook. These questions force the reader to take what the author is telling them into account. I believe he achieved his purpose. I had only ever known of CBT therapy I did not know there were other ways for it to be done. Although I will stick with it, this article taught me that there are other possible ways of doing things.