Read the following text and try the quick exercise below it.
Primal Therapy
Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. According to Janov, repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness for resolution through re-experiencing specific incidents and fully expressing the resulting pain during therapy. In therapy, the patient recalls and reenacts a particularly disturbing past experience, usually from early in life, and expresses normally repressed anger or frustration, especially through spontaneous and unrestrained screams, hysteria or violence. Janov criticises the talking therapies as they deal primarily with the cerebral cortex and higher-reasoning areas and do not access the source of emotional pain within the more basic parts of the central nervous system.
Primal therapy became very influential during a brief period in the early 1970s, after the publication of Janov's first book, The Primal Scream. It inspired hundreds of spin-off clinics worldwide and served as an inspiration for many popular cultural icons. Singer-songwriter John Lennon and actor James Earl Jones were prominent advocates of primal therapy. However, it has since declined in popularity, partly because Janov did not produce enough evidence to convince research-oriented psychotherapists of its effectiveness.
Are the following statements true, false or not given?
- During primal therapy sessions, patients are encouraged to remember traumatic childhood events.
- Primal therapy patients must talk calmly to the therapist.
- Primal therapy enjoyed a short heyday.
- Although it is less popular these days, many people still advocate this form of therapy.