Abstract
Cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) has been a central plank in the mental health policies of many Anglophone countries in recent years. This emphasis reflects the triumph of modern rationalism in two senses. First, the appeal of CBT to policy makers rests largely on its claims of being evidenced-based and quickly effective. Second, it is committed to a view of eudemonia (the good life) in which rationality predominates over non-rationality to generate the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Both aspects, which appeal to policy makers, warrant sociological interrogation. This article provides a brief history of CBT to highlight the rhetoric of rationalism it has espoused successfully. Then, using the UK Depression Report as a point of departure, it compares this success of CBT with the criticisms it has encountered. Both positions of advocacy and critique are examined in relation to disciplinary knowledge and professional interest work. These orientations from poststructuralist accounts of the modern episteme, on the one hand, and neo-Weberian sociology of the professions, on the other, help us understand the current controversy surrounding CBT.
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