Free Republic

ON THE MORNING of July 7, I watched a commuter, who had just emerged dazed and smoke-grimed from an Underground station, being asked whether he would like to see a trauma counsellor. Politely, but firmly, he declined, and staggered off. The counsellor looked disappointed and mildly disapproving.I cite this episode not as further evidence of British sang-froid in the face of terrorism (there are so many stiff upper lips in the media at the moment it is surprising any of us can still speak), but of something more profound. There is a widespread assumption that most people, and particularly those...

The tyranny of therapism Today — with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every conceivable problem — we are at risk of degrading our native ability to cope with life's challenges. In 2000, five Canadian psychologists published a satirical article about Winnie the Pooh entitled 'Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood'. At first glance, say the authors, the hero of AA Milne's 1926 children's classic appears to be a healthy, well-adjusted bear; but on closer and more expert examination, Pooh turns out to suffer from attention...

Purple is replacing red as the color of choice for teachers. Why, you may ask? It seems that educators worry that emphatic red corrections on a homework assignment or test can be stressful, demeaning--even "frightening" for a young person. The principal of Thaddeus Stevens Elementary in Pittsburgh advises teachers to use only "pleasant-feeling tones."Major pen manufacturers appear to agree. Robert Silberman, vice president of marketing at Pilot Pen, says teachers "are trying to be positive and reinforcing rather than harsh." Michael Finn, a spokesperson for Paper Mate, approves: "This is a kinder, more gentle education system." Which color is...

IT hurt her feelings, says Jane Fonda, sharing her feelings, that one of her husbands liked them to have sexual threesomes. "It reinforced my feeling I wasn't good enough." In the Scottsdale, Ariz., Unified School District office, the receptionist used to be called a receptionist. Now she is "director of first impressions." The happy director says, "Everyone wants to be important." Scottsdale school bus drivers now are "transporters of learners." A school official says such terminological readjustment is "a positive affirmation." Which beats a negative affirmation. Manufacturers of pens and markers report a surge in teachers' demands for purple ink...

Of snake oil and snake oil producers there is no end; and modern America has its own types. Fortunately, philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers and her co-author Dr. Sally Satel, a psychiatrist, are on the lookout for America's Dr. Knocks (or should we say Dr. Kooks) and warn us about them in their smart, straight-shooting new book, "One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance." The cover of "One Nation Under Therapy" shows an analytic couch covered in red, white, and blue. The inner contradiction expressed in this symbol is explored in the book but requires some elaboration....