Abstract
The caption we have here adopted as our chapter title may be seen on many bottles or cans containing wood alcohol, paints and thinners, insecticides, and other noxious substances that are extremely useful in their proper applications, but should never be ingested. It is becoming increasingly clear, as I hope our chronicles allow the reader to infer, that psychological and psychotherapeutic manipulation may be equally as harmful to the spirit as such physical or chemical toxins are to the body. In the preface of Evaluation of Psychological Therapies, 1 R. L. Spitzer cogently remarks that
For several decades, society has had laws requiring manufacturers of drugs to offer data proving the safety and efficacy of their products before they can be used in treating patients. For a host of reasons, society is apparently unable and/or unwilling to make similar demands of practitioners and proponents of psychological therapies. In the absence of legal requirements, the responsibility of demonstrating the value of the psychological therapies falls to the mental health professions.
First, do no harm. —Hippocrates
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Spitzer, T. (1980). Warning: May Be Harmful or Fatal If Swallowed. In: Psychobattery. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5997-8_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5997-8_15
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