Behavior Psychology Trumps Freudian Psychology Every Time It is Tried

By Wily Elder, CBA, CMI

Clark University invited Freud and Jung, the mind mechanics of the day, to the United States. As they arrived and looked at the Statue of Liberty, Freud said, “They don’t realize we’re bringing them the plague.”

Like so many medical imperatives, chemo, open heart surgery, vaccinations, and cholesterol lowering drugs, here was yet another useless and toxic process that would spell profits for the practitioners and ill health for the victims. The supposed cure is almost always worse than the original disease.

Only uninformed people and Hollywood moguls place any credibility in the obsolete process known as psychoanalysis. Even in its heyday, it was derided as a process in which one hired a very expensive “friend” to listen to you. The book, “Beyond the Couch”, should have exploded any myths that tried to imply that psychoanalysis is of any therapeutic value.

How many psychoanalysts does it take to change a light bulb?

It only takes one. But it takes a very long time. And the light bulb has to really want to change.

The above joke illustrates the main problems that existed with psychoanalysis. The process was long and expensive. And when it didn’t work, the doctor could always blame the victim (the patient), claiming he wasn’t really ready to change.

So, if only uninformed people and Hollywood moguls place any credibility in the obsolete process known as psychoanalysis, the question remains: What type of psychology does work?

Behavior psychology works almost every time it is tried. Behavior psychology always beats Freudian psychology. It doesn’t deal with what may or may not be inside a person’s head; it deals with his conduct – his behavior.

Behavior psychology, at its best, deals with human behavior, rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior.

It is a simple concept whose only complexity lies in the systems and consistency of implementation.

Here is an example of bad behavior psychology: AIG issued policies for bad mortgages, mortgages that were, in fact liar loans (loans made when both parties knew the application contained lies). When AIG was ready to fail, the out-going president bailed them out, thereby rewarding bad behavior. The government agencies, Freddie and Fannie, and the banks were also promoting bad mortgages. The in-coming president bailed them out. Once again bad behavior was rewarded. Thanks to this, the entire world was plunged into financial chaos. The United States is the biggest dead-beat nation; China is the biggest creditor. China is in the catbird seat thanks to the last three presidents. Remember, the president of the late 1990’s was receiving lots of Chinese money, with a little help from Charlie Trie, at a time when this present economic situation would have been considered unthinkable. Unfortunately it is not undoable. Nixon is also to blame for paving the way for ties between Communist China and the US, thereby leaving our friends, the Nationalist Chinese, on the sidelines. Once again bad behavior raised its ugly head. These chickens are coming home to roost. Notice in the news, we don’t hear the words “Red China” very much. We have had Socialist propaganda coming our way long before the present president.

If this country ever gets out of the ditch it’s in, it will be through the use of behavior psychology, rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior. Some examples? Declare war on the Somali pirates. Declare war on Sudan. Use the military for something useful, instead of trying to cram democracy down the throats of aggressive Islamics, who, for the most part, have neither the interest nor the inclination for freedom of thought. Reward people for saving instead of spending. Let the corporations fail and declare bankruptcy. After all, if we, the tax payers, fail, we do not get bailed out. Nor should we. Get rid of the nanny state. You can always argue that some people don’t have health care. That argument is a Trojan horse for government getting their hands in your pockets. There are even provisions for putting you in jail if you try to remove their hands from your pockets. One type of socialism is being practiced today. In essence it is this: Throw the country into a ditch and then come to its rescue with bailout money for preferred cronies and agencies.

As the country goes into the ditch there is very little we can do (aside from tea parties, which will not kick in until November of 2010) to change the sewer pipe we know as Washington DC. However, we, individually can practice behavior psychology on a daily basis. It is not really that difficult, once you get started. The more you practice the better you are at it.

-Wily Elder, CBA, CMI

Sources:

Lacan, Jacques, (translated by Jorge Jaurequi),The Freudian thing or the meaning of the return to Freud in psychoanalysis, 1977 Écrits: page 116, A Selection, Norton, NY, United States

Paulson, Mike, Chocolate for the Mind: New Avenues of Thought, 2009 AFSS Corporation, Ocala, FL, United States