From Skepticism to Competence: How American Psychiatrists Learn Psychotherapy

Author/Contributor(s):	Craciun, Mariana
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Date:	07/09/2024
Binding:	Paperback
Condition:	NEW

"While many doctors can examine the body for cut-and-dry data-a cardiologist can take a scan of the heart, an endocrinologist can measure the hormones in your blood, an oncologist can locate a tumor--psychiatrists are in a unique position: the only way to know someone's mind is through their own account of it. In this ethnography, sociologist Mariana Craciun follows a group of young medical students studying psychiatry as they go through training in psychotherapy. Their instructors, experienced psychotherapists, introduce approaches designed to uncover the inner workings of the mind of each patient, a dramatic departure from the students' earlier focus on the brain's chemical functions and the drugs that treat them. Despite the uncertainty endemic to psychotherapeutic approaches, Craciun shows us how students transform from psychotherapy skeptics into believers. Ultimately, Craciun illuminates widespread conflicts at the intersection of professional authority, uncertainty, and expertise, as we see how professionals come to rethink the goals and purpose of their jobs when they acknowledge the uncertain outcomes of their work"--