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Psychotherapy and Feminism

By cortex on September 4, 2007.

I'm a big fan of Mad Men, the new HBOesque drama about 1960's advertising executives on AMC. It's basically an extended melodrama about why the Ike years actually sucked, and neatly punctures that lame American nostalgia for the "simpler" times of the middle twentieth century.

One of the subplots in the show concerns the "neurotic" (probably depressed) housewife of the lead character. She starts to visit a shrink to help her cope with her moods. What amazes me is that her husband will occasionally call her therapist and get updates on her condition. The confessions of the wife are promptly relayed in full.

Did such things actually happen back in the 50's and 60's? (Or did the writers of the show just make it up, in case we didn't already get the "women were infantilized back then" theme? ) It sure seems like a gross violation of patient-doctor confidentiality. Just thought some of my brilliant readers might be able to answer my historical question.

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The main psychotherapeutic method used then was psychoanalysis. I was not practicing then, but I have attended seminars led by analysts from that era. The impression I got from them is that they never would have spoken with family members the way you describe.

That's not to say it didn't happen, but if it did, it would have been contrary to the standard teaching at the time.

'The Female Malady' is all about women and madness; while it's about England, if things were even slightly similar in the US then telling the husband about his wife's problems would seem accurate.

I heard an interview with the creator of the show where the interviewer (I think it was Terry Gross) challenged him on the reality of a number of plot items (but not this one); he claimed they were all drawn from reality. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if this one was true as well.