Mainstream therapy shares Thatcherism’s denial that social conditions shape distress

Evidence

The radical therapist David Smail argues that Margaret Thatcher’s view that there’s no such thing as society, only individuals and their families, finds “an unacknowledged echo in almost all approaches to therapy”. Therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy combine a focus on early life with the self-help doctrine that individuals can become masters of their own destiny. The idea is “with the expert help of your therapist or counsellor, you can change the world you are in the last analysis responsible for, so that it no longer cause you distress” — Smail calls this view “magical voluntarism”. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1604

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Smail’s coinage ‘magical voluntarism’ — the idea that therapy lets individuals will away socially caused distress.
• XREF: Connects to Fisher’s recurring critique that privatized psychological governance replaced collective politics—themes in his ‘Reflexive Impotence’ and capitalist realism arguments. — connects to: Cognitive-behavioural therapy echoes Thatcher’s denial of society — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1604; Psychotherapy’s self-mastery doctrine echoes Thatcher’s denial of society — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1501; Therapy’s self-help ethos tacitly endorses Thatcher’s individualist politics — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1501 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Cognitive-behavioural therapy echoes Thatcher’s denial of society #corroborates (0.95) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1604
• Psychotherapy’s self-mastery doctrine echoes Thatcher’s denial of society #corroborates (0.95) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1501
• Therapy’s self-help ethos tacitly endorses Thatcher’s individualist politics #corroborates (0.95) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1501
• Neoliberal policy privatised stress into individual mental illness #corroborates (0.90) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1601
• Stress has been privatized, reframing systemic dysfunction as individual illness #corroborates (0.90) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 42
• Biologizing mental illness conveniently depoliticizes its social causes #corroborates (0.85) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 82