This is a historical and sociological analysis regarding the rise of the therapy society in West Germany, specifically focusing on the 1970s. The core thesis posits that modern subjectivity has been transformed into the "advised self"—a subject that proactively integrates therapeutic knowledge and professional counseling to maintain social capability and individual optimization.

Critical Takeaways:

• From Liberation to Management: In the late 1960s and 1970s, therapy was viewed as a tool for political and individual "liberation." Today, it has been refunctionalized into a "key competence" for the "entrepreneurial self" to manage crises and maintain "marketability."
• The Psychoboom: The 1970s marked a discursive and institutional explosion of "psych-knowledge," characterized by a massive expansion of clinical psychology in universities (over 1,300% growth in staff between 1960 and 1982) and the integration of psychotherapy into the public health insurance system (1967).
• Governmentality of the Self: Modern neoliberal governance does not rule against the individual but through the individual’s self-optimization. Therapy and counseling have become "technologies of freedom" that paradoxically impose a "duty to be free" and a "requirement to decide."
• The Crisis Paradigm: Counseling is now institutionalized as a permanent "crisis management effort" (Krisenbewältigungsanstrengung). This creates a self-reinforcing loop where the availability of advice increases the perceived need for it.

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1. The Emergence of the "Therapy Society"

The ubiquity of counseling—spanning finance, sexuality, career coaching, and meditation—is a defining feature of the contemporary era. This "therapeutization" of the social sphere has transformed therapy from a specialized medical intervention into a generalized cultural practice.

Market and Media Presence

• Economic Expansion: Between the late 1980s and 1998, the market share of self-help and advisory literature doubled to 20% of the industry turnover.
• Media Saturation: From 3sat television programs to digital "apps" for e-books and smartphones, counseling has become a ubiquitous "communicative genre."
• The Consumer Focus: The therapeutic gaze has shifted to the mobile, digitized consumer, focusing on maintaining the individual as "healthy, resilient, and capable of work and relationships."

The "Advised Self" (Das beratene Selbst)

The modern subject is no longer a "victim" of expert control (the homo therapeuticus) but an active participant who views modeling the self (body, mind, and psyche) as both a right and a duty. Failure to optimize the self is increasingly viewed as a personal failure or a conscious decision for which the individual is held responsible.

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2. Historical Genealogy: Two Phases of Therapeutization

The document identifies two distinct waves of psych-knowledge in the 20th century, each producing a different type of subject.

Comparison of Subject Ideals

Feature

Early 20th Century (Post-WWI)

The "Long 1970s" (The Psychoboom)

Primary Goal

Social functionalism and stability.

Self-actualization and emancipation.

Model of the Psyche

Thermodynamic/Hydraulic (Tension vs. Discharge).

Communicative/Kybernetic (Feedback/Growth).

Normalcy vs. Disease

Strict binary; therapy seeks to restore "normalcy."

Gradualized; the line between "sick" and "normal" blurs.

Focus Area

Psychotechnics (Industrial efficiency), Seelsorge (Pastoral care).

Clinical psychology, self-help groups, "humanistic" psychology.

The Early 20th Century: Rationalization and Control

• Industrial Psychotechnics: Aimed at adapting the individual to modern working conditions through vocational guidance.
• The Control Model: Based on an "energetic" model where the "ego" must control "drives" (Triebe) to maintain societal functionality.
• Pastoral Integration: Psychoanalysis was integrated into religious counseling (Seelsorge) to modernize the "care of the soul."

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3. The 1970s Psychoboom: A Political and Cultural Catalyst

The year 1967 serves as a symbolic turning point with three key events:

1. The founding of Kommune 2, which used group analysis for "revolutionary self-transformation."
2. The publication of "The Inability to Mourn" by Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich, which psychologized the German collective consciousness.
3. The legislative inclusion of psychotherapy in the statutory health insurance system.

The Professionalization of Psychology

The 1970s saw a massive institutional expansion:

• University Growth: Student numbers in psychology grew from 2,000 in 1960 to over 20,000 by 1981.
• Clinical Dominance: By the mid-70s, over 75% of psychology students chose "Clinical Psychology" as their focus, driven by a desire for "practical social utility."
• Counseling Centers: Approximately 2,000 non-medical counseling centers (for families, drugs, or sexuality) were established by 1980, with psychologists replacing doctors as the primary authority figures.

Humanistic Psychology and "Self-Realization"

The "third force" (Humanistic Psychology) represented by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow became a dominant ideology.

• Client-Centered Therapy: Renamed the "patient" as a "client" to emphasize active responsibility and remove stigma.
• The "Growth" Imperative: Emotional "warmth," "authenticity," and "self-expression" became the new standards for a healthy personality.

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4. Therapeutic Governance and Neoliberalism

A central theme of the analysis is the seamless integration of therapeutic techniques into neoliberal political rationality.

Therapy as a "Technology of Freedom"

Neoliberalism does not govern through direct coercion but through the promotion of specific "freedoms":

• Self-Management: Concepts like "Coaching" and "Empowerment" are used as participatory management tools.
• The Entrepreneurial Self: Individuals are invited to overcome life's uncertainties through "acts of free will," but this freedom comes at the price of continuous self-observation and regulation.
• Marketability: The goal of self-optimization is to ensure one's "marketability" (Marketability des Selbst) in the labor and relationship markets.

The "Neosocial" Order

Societal steering now occurs by addressing individual self-governance. Functional relationships, health, and career success are no longer just private matters but are reframed as "public goods" for which the individual is responsible.

• Prevention: The "advised self" is also a "preventive self" (das präventive Selbst), acting to avoid being a cost to the social system.
• The Duty to Decide: What appears to be "freedom of action" often transforms into a "compulsion to act" or an "imposition of choice" (Entscheidungszumutung).

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5. Critical Observations and Paradoxes

The document concludes with several incisive observations regarding the ambivalence of the "Counseling Society" (Beratungsgesellschaft).

• The Paradox of Choice: Every decision is surrounded by alternatives, leading to permanent insecurity. Counseling offers a "temporary fix" for this complexity but cannot solve the fundamental contingency of modern life.
• The "Magic" of Volition: Counseling projects "willpower" and "freedom" onto a world full of causal constraints. It confirms the very "crises" it sets out to solve.
• The "Double Zwitterstellung" (Hybrid Position):
  • Counseling serves as both an indicator of social change and a vehicle to bring it about.
  • It acts as an individual resource for meaning and a societal institution for the collective management of cultural transitions.
• The "Requirement to be Governed": As human production reaches a historically unknown intensity (including genetic and neuronal stimulation), the ultimate question remains: "Do we really want to govern ourselves in this way?"

Key Quote on the Modern Condition:

"The production of the human being has reached a new, historically previously unknown intensity... Do we want ourselves to be and do we really want to be governed to this extent?" (Ulrich Brieler)

Source:

Maasen, S., Elberfeld, J., Eitler, P., Tändler, M. (Eds., 2000), Das beratene Selbst
Zur Genealogie der Therapeutisierung in den ›langen‹ Siebzigern, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag.