Psychotherapy as exorcism

Abstract

During this so-called "age of anxiety," psychotherapy has been the technique of choice to help individuals who are having problems in living. Recently, there has been a tremendous interest among the general public in the phenomenon of exorcism as it relates to people who are behaving in a "crazy" manner?acting as if they were possessed by some sort of evil spirit or demon. What do psychotherapy and exorcism have in common? Jerome Frank, in his book Persuasion and Healing, provides some profound insights into all forms of healing relationships from sophisticated psychoanalysis to primitive ritualistic methods of healing.1 He believes that all these relation ships are characterized by 1) a socially sanctioned healer who has been trained to help suffering people, 2) a sufferer who believes in the healing powers of the trained healer and thus seeks help from him, and 3) a structured series of con tacts between the healer and the sufferer having the goal of producing various changes in the sufferer's emotions, attitudes, and behavior. These three features are common to all forms of exorcism as well as to all forms of psychotherapy. Exorcism most likely originated prior to recorded history. This religiomagical tradition was based on the belief that disturbances in human behavior were the result of some sort of supernatural intervention, such as possession by an evil spirit. Exorcism, the treatment of choice, consisted of various techniques to cast the evil spirit out of the body of the afflicted person. It was performed on the sufferer by a socially sanctioned healer. During the Middle Ages, bizarre behavior and strange symptoms were definitely thought to be evidence of demoniacal possession to be treated by exorcism. The church strongly influenced both the sufferers and healers of the times, and both believed fully in possession as well as exorcism. Firm belief is essential if the healing ritual, whether exorcism or psychotherapy, is to work. Blatty discusses the role of suggestion and belief in his best-selling novel The Exorcist.2 He points out that the sufferer's belief in possession helped to bring about the particular syndrome; in just the same way, his belief in the power of the exorcist can make the symptoms go away. The 1960s and 1970s have produced a climate that is favorable for the rediscovery of exorcism. Evil spirits seem to be pervasive, as evidenced by unjust