{"id":5775,"date":"2021-09-28T13:02:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/?post_type=product&p=5775"},"modified":"2022-12-07T12:16:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T17:16:23","slug":"frontier-struggles","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/product\/frontier-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Frontier Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A quarter century after Sigmund Freud ineffectually attempted to save psychoanalysis from being \u201cswallowed up by medicine\u201d by penning\u00a0The Question of Lay Analysis<\/em>, the task of broadening that goal to include psychotherapy fell on a small band\u00a0 of psychologists in New York. In the early 1950s, these psychologists found themselves up against what was then the nation\u2019s most powerful lobby \u2013 organized medicine \u2013 and having to annually beat back legislative attacks in Albany that would have handed physicians and psychiatrists control over\u00a0 psychotherapy.<\/p>\n

Leading this band, formally known as the Joint Council of New York State Psychologists on Legislation, was Rollo May. Guided by his theories on anxiety that would later shape a new American existential psychology, May emerged as a leading voice against the \u201cmaking of man over in the image of the machine.\u201d He inspired his fellow pioneering psychologists to withstand the \u201coverwhelming power\u201d of organized medicine and see their profession through its \u201cfrontier struggles.\u201d Further, in addition to defeating organized medicine\u2019s attempts to amend New York\u2019s Medical Practice Act and\u00a0give M.D.s control over\u00a0the diagnosis and treatment of mental and nervous disorders, the Joint Council helped lay the legal framework for the humanistic psychology movement that emerged shortly after the enactment of a law regulating the psychology profession in the Empire State in 1956.<\/p>\n

Frontier Struggles<\/em> reveals the untold conclusion to Freuds 1926 book,\u00a0The Question of Lay Analysis<\/em>. It provides the first behind-the-scenes look of the political maneuvers, espionage, infighting, and inspirational fortitude that enabled New York\u2019s psychologists to open the door to the regulation of their profession in New York and beyond.\u00a0 From the alliances the psychologists forged with leading physicians and psychiatrists and even Freud\u2019s nephew, to the strategies the Joint Council deployed to sway legislators and the general public,\u00a0Frontier Struggles<\/em>\u00a0follows the crisis that, in May\u2019s words, marked \u201cthe change of psychology as a profession in this state from its adolescence to its manhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/h3>\n

James Schlett is an award-winning author, poet and journalist. He is the author of A Not Too Greatly Changed Eden: The Story of the Philosophers’ Camp in the Adirondacks<\/em> (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2015), winner of the Adirondack Center for Writing\u2019s Adirondack Literary Award for Best Book of Non-Fiction in 2015.<\/p>\n

Advance Praise for Frontier Struggles<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is an extraordinarily important book about a landmark moment in the history of psychotherapy.\u00a0 Rollo May, whom I had the privilege to know as both student and colleague, was a pivotal figure in the development of existential-humanistic psychology in America. But few people realize how central he was to the professionalization of psychotherapy beyond the province of medicine. In this poignant and superbly detailed volume, Schlett articulates how Rollo May and “a little band of psychologists” not only helped democratize the practice of psychotherapy, but salvaged a holistic picture of human transformation.
\n\u2014Kirk Schneider, Ph.D., <\/strong>Author of The Psychology of Existence<\/em> (with Rollo May) and The Depolarizing of America:\u00a0 A Guidebook to Social Healing<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frontier Struggles<\/em> is the most timely book during the pandemic which exposes the inadequacy of the medical model to meet the mental health crisis. I hope that this book will rekindle the passion in Rollo May’s followers to carry on the struggles to save humanism in psychology.
\n\u2014Paul T. P. Wong<\/strong>, author of\u00a0Made for Resilience and Happiness: Effective Coping with COVID-19 According to Viktor E. Frankl and Paul T. P. Wong<\/em><\/p>\n

Frontier Struggles<\/i> is a lively account of the barriers psychologists in New York faced as they fought for legal recognition. \u00a0Packed with colorful characters and impressively researched, the book presents the reader with a ring-side seat to the birth of a profession.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\u2014John D. Hogan, PhD<\/strong>, Professor Emeritus, St. John\u2019s University<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Reviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
Review from Mad In America<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Review from the Daily Gazette<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
ALA Outstanding Academic Book Award 2022<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rollo May and the Little Band of Psychologists Who Saved Humanism<\/h3>\n

James Schlett<\/em><\/h4>\n

Size: 6 x 9<\/p>\n

Publication date: September 21, 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5787,"template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[7314,22801],"product_tag":[97659,12224,26769],"class_list":{"0":"post-5775","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-books","7":"product_cat-center-for-the-history-of-psychology","8":"product_tag-affordable-learning-initiative","9":"product_tag-history","10":"product_tag-psychology","12":"first","13":"instock","14":"shipping-taxable","15":"product-type-simple"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/5775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=5775"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=5775"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uakron.edu\/uapress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=5775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}