Abstract
The past decade has seen the emergence of popular “new psychotherapies” such as Gestalt Therapy, Transactional Analysis, and Primal Therapy, each with substantial followings. This paper puts forward a hypothesis about what these divergent systems may possess in common.
Certain aspects of these therapy systems, in particular the induction of new patients and trainees, are examined in terms of Paul Tillich's concepts of the universal necessity of a rationale for courage. The significance of Tillich's analysis of courage for various historical movements is reviewed.
In each system an element of unconditional commitment to a particular world view is required, as evidenced in the writings of the proponents of these systems, for the patient to be accepted into the particular system. These theoretically divergent systems possess, in common, a factor of an initial commitment to and induction into a collective belief system comparable to what Tillich describes as “the courage to be as a part”.