The paper attempts to show the way in which psychotherapy can become caught up in wider social processes that change the meaning of psychotherapeutic work in a way of which we are not always aware. The process of mourning is taken as an example; the classic theories of mourning are examined and the way they have changed over the last thirty years is discussed. It is argued that the changes have been a product of social change rather than a deeper understanding of grief, and that unless we are aware of this, psychotherapy can turn into an instrument of social control.