Attack therapy

Attack therapy is a type of psychotherapy. It involves highly confrontational interaction between the patient and a therapist or between the patient and fellow patients during group therapy, in which the patient may be verbally abused, denounced, or humiliated by the therapist or other members of the group. The method has been used contentiously and controversially by groups such as Synanon, Odyssey House, House of Hope, Excel Academy (Conroe, Texas), Straight, Inc., the John Dewey Academy, Allynwood Academy (The Family Foundation School), Élan School, Phoenix House, DeSisto School, Amity Circle Tree Ranch, CEDU School, Hidden Lake Academy, Cascade School, Monarch School, the Church of Scientology and in the large-group awareness training practices of the Human Potential Movement.

Attack therapy is one of several pseudo-therapeutic methods described in the 1996 book Crazy Therapies by the psychologist Margaret Singer and the sociologist Janja Lalich. A 1990 report by the Institute of Medicine on methods for treating alcohol problems suggested that the self-image of individuals should be assessed before they were assigned to undergo attack therapy; there was evidence that persons with a positive self-image may profit from the therapy, while people with a negative self-image would not profit, or would indeed be harmed.