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Out in Inner Space is truly an Odyssey! Stephen Appelbaum, psychologist, psychoanalyst, clinician, researcher, educator, had been exposed to the many forms of intervention into the human condition other than traditional psychoanalytic psychotherapy, which claim to be able to accomplish a variety of tasks, all of which psychoanalysis purports to deal with, but claim to do it better. In the true spirit of inquiry, Appelbaum wanted to explore these nontraditional forms of psychological intervention, and the Menninger Foundation, where he worked, financially supported his venture. Appelbaum personally investigated: gestalt therapy, primal therapy, psychosynthesis (the use of guided imagery), TM (Transcendental meditation), est, Silva Mind Control, encounter groups, the work of Ram Dass and the more traditional forms of yoga (about the latter Appelbaum found marked similarity to the psychoanalytic approach), body work (Alexander Technique, bioenergetics, Rolfing, Shiatsu, accupressure), biofeedback, and behavior modification. Appelbaum also covers nontraditional forms of medical treatment but I will focus only on the psychological for this discussion. Each modality (even the medical) is discussed fully and clearly, as regards rationale and technique, and Appelbaum shares his experiences and reactions freely.
As one reads these interesting and informative accounts it becomes clear that both the goals and techniques of the so-called nontraditional approaches to human issues are significantly different from those of traditional psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Whereas the goals of psychoanalysis are the removal of symptoms and the correction of problems and conflicts, that is, the undoing of psychopathology, the approaches of the so-called human potential movement attempt to foster higher levels of functioning, of development, of aiding people to approximate their fuller potential as people. In terms of technique, the nontraditional forms of psychological intervention approach