primal therapy

noun

, Psychiatry.

1. a form of psychotherapy in which the patient is encouraged to relive traumatic events, often screaming or crying, in order to achieve catharsis and a breakdown of psychological defenses.

primal therapy

noun

1. psychol a form of psychotherapy in which patients are encouraged to scream abusively about their parents and agonizingly about their own suffering in infancy Also calledprimal scream therapyscream therapy

Word History and Origins

Origin of primal therapy¹

An Americanism dating back to 1970–75

Word History and Origins

Origin of primal therapy¹

C20: from the book The Primal Scream (1970) by Arthur Janov, US psychologist, who originated the treatment

Example Sentences

They named their band after the concept of primal therapy, which focuses, in part, on repressed emotions from childhood: Tears are a replacement for fears.

From New York Times

“Primal therapy has to do with the traumas you’ve undergone in the womb, at birth, in infancy and childhood,” Janov explained in an interview excerpted in the book.

From Los Angeles Times

Cannon: I was into primal therapy.

From Los Angeles Times

Part notebook, part incantation, part primal therapy, it is so esoteric it sometimes seems as if it were written in a language with just one speaker left.

From New York Times

In 1971, Janov told reporters, “In the future, there will be no need for a field called psychology,” because primal therapy would cure “80 per cent of all ailments.”

From The New Yorker