Would Therapists be Obsolete in a Free Society?

[MysterionMuffles]

I'm open for correction on this because I know may be completely wrong, but if in a free society, there'd be a signficant reduction of child abuse, would we still need therapists? I get the impression that therapists only really exist because parents don't do what they do in terms of empathizing and validating the experience of their patients/children. Your thoughts?

 

Of course that the overall happiness of humanity will increase, but of course we'd still be prone to challenges and some stressors in life, so I would imagine that the occupation of a therapist would transform into that of a life coach if anything.

[dsayers]

That's an interesting question. I would guess yes. People change the oil in their cars even before their engines seize up. They do this to maximize efficiency and stave off complications that would arise from without this maintenance.

 

Humans are born without filters. As we develop and our understanding of the world around is improves, we begin to take certain things for granted. When you first step out of a shower and put a shirt on, you notice the shirt. However, it would be a waste of time to continue to consider the shirt, so we filter it out. I imagine that even without dysfunction, there would be things we would filter out that we shouldn't. Seeking the help of a therapist could help to identify these things.

 

Or how about this: Imagine a married couple. Both could be peaceful individuals, but this doesn't mean they would always agree on everything. Some disagreements might be relationship threatening, so they might employ a therapist to help them identify a compromise or whether the relationship is worth continuing, etc.

[percentient]

If you look at the most common causes of death in the 19th century (tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and other infections), we haven't eradicated them, but they are certainly not the same as today. Actually the most common deaths are only possible because of advances in material wealth, safety and medicine. And what happened to the business of physical health? It boomed, we now spend a larger portion of our time in the pursuit of health. Rationally so. This parallel goes only so far, but I think it illustrates that while health problems are alleviated, people's standards and priorities change.

[jpahmad]

Would motivational speakers be absolute?  I really don't think so.  People will still have fears and challenges.  You wouldn't be alive if you were not experiencing these emotions.  Therefore, it would follow that good therapists would be needed as well.

[surfingthoughts]

I think the role of someone who wants to listen to you yet you are not emotionally connected to is and would be useful for dealing with the aftermath of emotions relating to accidents that happen. Not necessarily needed but perhaps wanted. 

 

Even if society was perfect and I mean perfect (everyone was born into a family that acted as a perfect family) and this happened for a long period of time say 5 generations I think a weakness would come about were we would forget how to deal with people who are not "perfect" and that would be fine - but with over 7 billion people the likely hood of one of them having an accident that changes the physical make up of he brain which can affect personality which could lead to destructive behavior is quite likely (in my opinion) - therapists and psychologists would have a role to play with the people and especially children that person comes into contact with.

 

Strokes can affect personality but more major examples are just a google search away check this one out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage

[Phuein]

I've considered the whole profession, before. I think that having supportive and learned parents, family, and friends should generally do. Humans in tribal societies get their "therapy" from those around them, as there is plenty of freedom (time + space), and this is a clear human need, after all.

 

It is interesting to note that even in tribes, there is often the "outsider", the shaman, who handles problems, personal or social, in a professional manner; even though they (the shaman - he, she, or both) are actually an accepted part of the tribe. They often live a bit further away from the main tribe.

[travioli]

Yeah, this is a rather tough question to answer. It's hard because we don't know how amazing or different a free/functional society will be, or when it will, and so on. In general, I think the complexity of human life and interaction would still benefit from therapists--maybe in a modified role, but I think they would still be needed. 

 

I've thought about how I want to become a therapist (one day later in life) and then I thought on how my pay "depended" on people not being functional, so I have an "incentive" to make sure there are psychologically traumatized people so I can earn a living.. But that's as juvenile as saying that doctors (in a free market) would benefit from sick people and thus keep treatments from them--I mean, in a tertiary way this is the case, but their purpose is to reduce that suffering and are compensated for the value that they provide, just like therapists. Maybe that's the metaphor for me--therapists are like "mental doctors," and I don't think we'll ever not have a good use for them, just like physicians and so on. Because like medicine, psychology is a field, and we'll probably all need a couple dedicated people that spend their lives studying the stuff so that others can benefit from the division of labor. Their role will likely be in somehow different, but a patient-therapist relationship is one you can't always find in your parents or your friendships, (due to the voluntary nature, the hierarchy, the ability to use the therapist for only your needs, etc.) They have their own special role. Maybe some of that I can't articulate clearly, but that's my take on it.Good question!

[MysterionMuffles]

Perhaps the job might evolve to something else and there might be a mix between life coaching and therapy.

[Ken Cotton]

No.

 

People are still going to get harshly dumped or lose their parents to car accidents or accidentally catch their parents having sex when they're like 4. There will be enough incidental reasons for therapy to be around.