The idea that you can draw a line between stress and trauma is an attempt to generalize something experienced on a personal level.

That's not how to handle any complex system with accuracy and effectiveness.

Therapy doesn't address systemic oppression, which does lead to more incidents resulting in PTSD & is a generator of CPTSD (which isn't just for edge cases, but for recurrent stressor that don't allow the body time to recover from past events).

Western therapy is failing. The therapists attending to what's going on are speaking out and some are abandoning their practices because they realize they've been co-opted in systemic harm.

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kennyadam 13 hours ago | parent [-]

So you know of any personal blogs or articles or other writings from therapists who feel this way and left the profession? It sounds fascinating, but I wouldn't know where to start.

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jordwest 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Daniel Mackler has a whole YouTube channel about this

https://youtu.be/eBRNIvK3HqA

My experience matches very much with this thread. After years of therapy I hit a limit to what conventional psychology could explain or understand or “treat”, and the only thing that worked after that was going deeper into my own psyche with meditation.

The whole psyche is available for exploration when you stop believing that you are made of thoughts. It becomes extremely clear where all the anxiety and depression and addiction comes from, and that almost all conventional approaches merely treat the symptoms.

I also took some intro psych at university and remember that in general Freud’s was sort of accepted by mainstream psych as the de facto most “correct” and logical view of psychotherapy while Jung was considered a bit of a weirdo, and I accepted this at the time. However through my own experiences now I think Jung was much closer to the truth, particularly around what he calls the “shadow”.

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rendx 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Maybe not exactly what you're after, but you might like

https://www.traumaandphilosophy.com/ and https://traumatheory.com/

Other writings: For example the books by Vivian Broughton, a UK therapist: https://www.vivianbroughton.com/my-books/ Her latest book ("You were just a child...") contains critical essays, which you might enjoy.

Essential reading: The books by Judith Herman, who coined the term "Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" and lobbied to get it added to the DSM. Her latest book is all about justice for victims (and how the system is failing them).

The most famous critical essays about modern society from a therapist are by Sigmund Freud. You may want to start with "Civilization and Its Discontents" (1929). Quote:

"The present cultural state of America would give us a good opportunity for studying the damage to civilization which is thus to be feared. But I shall avoid the temptation of entering upon a critique of American civilization; I do not wish to give an impression of wanting myself to employ American methods."

	▲	rendx 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You might also like the essays by Dr. Janus, a German psychotherapist and co-founder of the Society for Psychohistory and Political Psychology. https://www.ludwig-janus.de/downloads-in-english.html Various texts by other psychologists linked to at the bottom of that page.