Freudian Destruction of American Culture

Perhaps the most fundamental change in American culture wrought by Freud’s legacy has been the popularization of counseling and psychotherapy.  In on other nation in the world have these become so much a part of the culture as they have in America.  While it is acknowledged that an increasing proportion of counseling and psychotherapy is not directly Freudian, most of it is indirectly Freudian insofar as it assumes that adult problems are a consequence of childhood experiences and that talking about or understanding the childhood experience will help solve the adult problems.  It seems likely that the immense popularity of counseling and psychotherapy in America is a direct consequence of Freud’s greater popularity here compared to other countries. …

Thus one of Freud’s contributions to American culture has been the popularization of counseling and psychotherapy in general, but Freud’s psychoanalysis has not proven to be more efficacious than any other technique.

E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., "Freudian Fraud: the Malignant Effect of Freud's Theory on American Thought and Culture," p.246/247