Besides Szasz’s controversial views are brilliant contributions to clinical practice, including the following examples: (1) He elaborated the physician-patient relationship with three models—“activity-passivity,” “guidance-cooperation,” and “mutual participation.” (2) In The Ethics of Psychoanalysis (1965), he promoted “autonomous psychotherapy,” which involved noncoercive dialogue between therapist and patient that would lead to education and growth for the latter. (3) He argued that transference is part of the analyst’s judgment and the patient’s experience, and that there is a relationship between transference and learning. (4) He used principles of “object relations” theory to explicate deeply the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia. Contrary to popular belief, he was not “antipsychiatry” simpliciter. As a theorist, he clarified language and tried to understand pain. As a practicing clinician, he advocated ways to help people in distress, urged embracing the freedom and autonomy of patients, and treated them as persons with abilities to help themselves.
Thomas Szasz: The Uncompromising Rebel and Critic of Psychiatry
