The Primal Scream
Encyclopedia
The Primal Scream is a book by Arthur Janov
Ph. D, the inventor of Primal Therapy
. It is subtitled Primal Therapy: The Cure for Neurosis. The book describes the experiences Arthur Janov had with 63 patients during his first 18 months (starting in 1967) discovering and practicing Primal Therapy. Janov claimed in the book a 100% cure rate.
Some editions of The Primal Scream featured Edvard Munch
's painting The Scream
on the cover. See, for example, the 1977 edition published by ABACUS. This edition does not reproduce the entire painting, focusing on the screaming figure at its center, holding up its hands to its head.
as it is now known." According to Janov, despite the fact that neither his patient nor he himself could see the sense in such a childish act, he asked Wilson to call out "Mommy! Daddy!". After some reluctance and hesitation, Wilson followed Janov's instruction. As a result, Wilson became upset, had convulsions, and finally uttered a loud scream. Following the scream, Wilson declared: "I made it! I don't know what, but I can feel!". Janov claimed that several months later he tried the same procedure on a thirty year old patient, identified with the pseudonym Gary Hillard, and that Hillard also screamed. Janov wrote that he and Hillard were both shocked by this, but afterwards Hillard gained insights and seemed to understand himself. Janov wrote that he developed Primal Therapy
as an outgrowth of his explanations of the changes he observed in his patients.
Arthur Janov
Arthur Janov is an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and the creator of primal therapy, a treatment for mental illness that involves repeatedly descending into, feeling, and expressing long-repressed childhood pain. Janov directs a psychotherapy institute called the Primal Center in Santa...
Ph. D, the inventor of Primal Therapy
Primal therapy
Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully...
. It is subtitled Primal Therapy: The Cure for Neurosis. The book describes the experiences Arthur Janov had with 63 patients during his first 18 months (starting in 1967) discovering and practicing Primal Therapy. Janov claimed in the book a 100% cure rate.
Some editions of The Primal Scream featured Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
's painting The Scream
The Scream
Scream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...
on the cover. See, for example, the 1977 edition published by ABACUS. This edition does not reproduce the entire painting, focusing on the screaming figure at its center, holding up its hands to its head.
Contents
The Introduction gives an account of how Janov heard in 1967 what he considered a remarkable scream from one of his patients, a twenty-two year old college student, identified with the pseudonym Danny Wilson. Janov likened the scream to what one might hear from a person about to be murdered. Janov suggested that the scream could "change the nature of psychotherapyPsychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
as it is now known." According to Janov, despite the fact that neither his patient nor he himself could see the sense in such a childish act, he asked Wilson to call out "Mommy! Daddy!". After some reluctance and hesitation, Wilson followed Janov's instruction. As a result, Wilson became upset, had convulsions, and finally uttered a loud scream. Following the scream, Wilson declared: "I made it! I don't know what, but I can feel!". Janov claimed that several months later he tried the same procedure on a thirty year old patient, identified with the pseudonym Gary Hillard, and that Hillard also screamed. Janov wrote that he and Hillard were both shocked by this, but afterwards Hillard gained insights and seemed to understand himself. Janov wrote that he developed Primal Therapy
Primal therapy
Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully...
as an outgrowth of his explanations of the changes he observed in his patients.