As journalist Tom Mahon and others have observed, the pressure is to go high tech, virtual and faster or risk being associated with the flat earth society. In The Culture of Speed Conducting psychotherapy with people hooked on the fast track is a complex task. Even within the walls of our offices, where thoughtfulness and contemplation are supposed to reign, we witness a growing impatience and obsession with speed on both sides of the couch. Therapists have been hard at work finding ways to speed up the healing process. In recent years there has been an explosion of numerous new treatments that promise super fast cures for emotional problems.
Several factors seem to be at play in rushing the therapeutic process.
The most obvious one is managed care's focus on cutting costs through brief therapy. The second factor is therapists' sincere efforts to help clients in the most efficient way to reduce unnecessary suffering. The third factor is the joining of the forces of the psycho-pharmaceutical industry and psychiatry to reduce the source of all suffering to the biological level. Psychotropic drugs promise almost instant cures for depression, anxiety, insomnia, phobias and almost any other human ailment. This inevitably leads to the quick pill-type solution while filling the coffers of the drug companies and medicating psychiatrists.