From the Annals of the History of Psychology: Nude Psychotherapy

By John Farrier in Society & Culture on Oct 2, 2010 at 1:57 pm

In the 1960s (of course), psychologist Paul Bindrim, building upon the work of Abraham Maslow, invented a form of psychotherapy that involved everyone getting naked:

Nude therapy was based on the idea of the naked body as a metaphor of the “psychological soul.” Uninhibited exhibition of the nude body revealed that which was most fundamental, truthful, and real. In the marathon, Bindrim interrogated this metaphor with a singular determination. Bodies were exposed and scrutinized with a science-like rigor. Particular attention was paid to revealing the most private areas of the body and mind-all with a view to freeing the self from its socially imposed constraints. “This,” Bindrim asserted gesturing to a participant’s genitalia and anus, “is where it’s at. This is where we are so damned negatively conditioned” [...] Determined to squelch the “exaggerated sense of guilt” in the body, Bindrim devised an exercise called “crotch eyeballing” in which participants were instructed to look at each others genitals and disclose the sexual experiences they felt most guilty about while lying naked in a circle with their legs in the air [...] In this position, Bindrim insisted “you soon realize that the head end and the tail end are indispensable parts of the same person, and that one end is about as good as the other.:”

Link via io9 | Unrelated photo of Bob Newhart statue via Flickr user Digital Sextant, used under Creative Commons license


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  1. Kalel
    Oct 2nd, 2010 at 2:41 pm

    Now there’s an image of Dr. Phil I didn’t need.

  2. Splint Chesthair
    Oct 2nd, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    Well, nude beaches certainly are freeing but I don’t think I’d want to bury my face in a strangers crotch just to recreate that feeling.

  3. anon2
    Oct 2nd, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    That would be Maslow’s Hierarchy of Nudes?

  4. Jessss
    Oct 2nd, 2010 at 5:32 pm

    Cognitive dicksonance.

  5. ted
    Oct 2nd, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    Now there’s an unusual job.

  6. Timm
    Oct 3rd, 2010 at 6:49 am

    And peope trust these people to “fix” them! Idiots…

  7. ted
    Oct 3rd, 2010 at 7:06 am

    I knew Timm couldn’t keep away!

    Guess what, Timm? This is one example of one crazy idea. It’s better to get help than to ask L Ron Hubbard to make up a cult for you.

  8. Jessss
    Oct 3rd, 2010 at 8:19 am

    @ timm

    No doubt you will add this obscure method of psychological treatment from half a century ago that was never accepted or endorsed by any official psychological body to your collection of examples as to why all psychology/psychiatry is an evil scam and Xenu is all powerful.

  9. Jim.
    Oct 4th, 2010 at 11:12 am

    I don’t see this ever catching on with Dr. Tobias Fünke. Maybe if the psychotherapist just wore cutoffs?


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