--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We've learned a lot from the great…" description: "\"We've learned a lot from the great psychologists. Wilhelm Reich wrote about the relationship between fascism and sexual repression. Freud rediscovered ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/adrienne-rich-803_conditions_we-ve-learned-a-lot-from-the-great-psych_2587553.png" --- # We've learned a lot from the great psychologists. Wilhelm… ![“We've learned a lot from the great psychologists. Wilhelm Reich wrote about the relationship between fascism and sexual repression. Freud rediscovered the underworld of consciousness that European rationalism had denied. But when you have a nation of people in therapy and counselling, "support"…” quote by Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/adrienne-rich-803_conditions_we-ve-learned-a-lot-from-the-great-psych_2587553.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/adrienne-rich-803_conditions_we-ve-learned-a-lot-from-the-great-psych_2587553.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94a/adrienne-rich-803_conditions_we-ve-learned-a-lot-from-the-great-psych_2587553.png) > “We've learned a lot from the great psychologists. Wilhelm Reich wrote about the relationship between fascism and sexual repression. Freud rediscovered the underworld of consciousness that European rationalism had denied. But when you have a nation of people in therapy and counselling, "support" groups for every kind of human condition, where, in the clichés of that milieu, people "share" and "heal," the question, "What for?", "What now?" is no longer asked.” [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Therapeutic trends promise healing but risk becoming superficial self‑help without deeper societal change. **In simple terms:** Therapy culture may lack depth. Key Takeaway Critically assess self‑help movements. Themes psychology culture critique Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - counselling sessions - wellness workshops - online support groups Key Concepts therapy industry self‑help social change Questions to Reflect On - What deeper changes are needed? - How to balance personal healing with activism? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on therapy can ignore systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Denied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denied/) [Fascism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascism/) [Fascism Sexual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascism-sexual-1831405/) [Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freud/) [Freud Rediscovered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freud-rediscovered-1831406/) [Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) [Heal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heal/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Milieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/milieu/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Psychologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychologist/) [Rationalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rationalism/) [Relationship Fascism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationship-fascism-1387825/) [Repression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repression/) [Repression Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repression-freud-1831404/) [Sexual Repression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexual-repression-1248592/) [Share](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/share/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Support groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support-groups/) [Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy/) [Underworld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underworld/) ## Related quotes > [The relationship between fascism and robotics, for instance, it's very clear that it's going to become way more important as time goes by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-padilha/the-relationship-between-fascism-and-robotics-for-instance-it-s-very/) [Jose Padilha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-padilha/) > [“To understand the phenomenon of avoidance in TMS one must constantly bear in mind how radically the unconscious mind differs from its conscious counterpart.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-sarno/to-understand-the-phenomenon-of-avoidance-in-tms-one-must-constantly/) [John E. Sarno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-sarno/) > [In the States, there has been, compared to the Sixties and Seventies, a huge retrenchment - not just in poetry - into the personal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/in-the-states-there-has-been-compared-to-the-sixties-and-seventies-a/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“In the sexual-liberation movement of the sixties, its ideology and practice, neither force nor the subordinate status of women was an issue. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/in-the-sexual-liberation-movement-of-the-sixties-its-ideology-and/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“You smell like tequila and sexual repression, Caroline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-clayton/you-smell-like-tequila-and-sexual-repression-caroline/) [Alice Clayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-clayton/) > [“More than economic dependency of the wife and children on the husband and father is needed to preserve the institution of the authoritarian family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/more-than-economic-dependency-of-the-wife-and-children-on-the-husband/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“believe that sexual desire is a powerful emotion and a healthy one. I’m pretty sure that when anyone acknowledges and acts on their desire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/believe-that-sexual-desire-is-a-powerful-emotion-and-a-healthy-one-i/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [I don't feel that men have been wrong. I don't feel that women are wrong for using their second attention to combat sexual repression.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-don-t-feel-that-men-have-been-wrong-i-don-t-feel-that-women-are/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“University of Otago social historian Hera Cook provides a beautiful illustration of exactly this point in her rich account of the sexual revolution.49 Cook…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cordelia-fine/university-of-otago-social-historian-hera-cook-provides-a-beautiful/) [Cordelia Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cordelia-fine/) > [“George Orwell wrote in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) that the sex instinct, more than any other, must be repressed if ruling elites are to maintain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/george-orwell-wrote-in-nineteen-eighty-four-1949-that-the-sex/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [I don't think sexual repression leads to violence, but I can see the situation where you're trying very hard to be very religious and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/i-don-t-think-sexual-repression-leads-to-violence-but-i-can-see-the/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [They have done this through sexual repression, economic repression, political repression, social repression, ideological repression and spiritual repression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/they-have-done-this-through-sexual-repression-economic-repression/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [To play a repressed gay man, I had to explore what life was like in an era of sexual repression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-play-a-repressed-gay-man-i-had-to-explore-what-life-was-like-in-an/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [As the many male victims of rape in the regime's disgusting jails can testify, this state-run pathology of sexual repression and sexual sadism is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-the-many-male-victims-of-rape-in-the-regime-s-disgusting-jails-can/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a "support group". Salvation in a can!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-durocher/to-some-it-s-a-six-pack-to-me-it-s-a-support-group-salvation-in-a-can/) [Leo Durocher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-durocher/) ## More by Adrienne Rich > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/responsibility-to-yourself-means-refusing-to-let-others-do-your/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Well, she's long about her coming, who must be more merciless to herself than history. Her mind full to the wind, I see her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/well-she-s-long-about-her-coming-who-must-be-more-merciless-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think my work comes out of both an intense desire for connection and what it means to feel isolated. There's always going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-my-work-comes-out-of-both-an-intense-desire-for-connection/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Popular culture entered my life as Shirley Temple, who was exactly my age and wrotea letter in the newspapers telling how her mother fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/popular-culture-entered-my-life-as-shirley-temple-who-was-exactly-my/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/in-a-history-of-spiritual-rupture-a-social-compact-built-on-fantasy/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [It's as if, in the mother's eyes, her smile, her stroking touch, the child first reads the message:'You are there!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/it-s-as-if-in-the-mother-s-eyes-her-smile-her-stroking-touch-the/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The women's movement appeared at a very crucial moment in my life. There was a whole political movement asking such questions and others I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-women-s-movement-appeared-at-a-very-crucial-moment-in-my-life/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The word revolution itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the revolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-word-revolution-itself-has-become-not-only-a-dead-relic-of/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The decision to feed the world is the real decision. No revolution has chosen it. For that choice requires that women shall be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-decision-to-feed-the-world-is-the-real-decision-no-revolution-has/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The necessity of poetry has to be stated over and over, but only to those who have reason to fear its power, or those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-necessity-of-poetry-has-to-be-stated-over-and-over-but-only-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think many poets, including myself, write both for the voice and for the page. I certainly write for the person alone in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-many-poets-including-myself-write-both-for-the-voice-and-for/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [If I cling to circumstances I could feel not responsible. Only she who says she did not choose, is the loser in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-i-cling-to-circumstances-i-could-feel-not-responsible-only-she-who/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) [Explore all 364 Adrienne Rich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## More Conditions quotes > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [It clearly follows that to make men moral it is necessary to make their social environment moral. And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [Importunity is a condition of prayer. We are to press the matter, not with vain repetitions, but with urgent repetitions. We repeat, not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/importunity-is-a-condition-of-prayer-we-are-to-press-the-matter-not/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-so-called-evils-are-evils-only-in-relation-to-a-certain-thing-and/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A social group can, indeed must, already exercise 'leadership' before winning governmental power (this is indeed one of the principal conditions for the winning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/a-social-group-can-indeed-must-already-exercise-leadership-before/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [I'm a Christian because Christianity names and addresses sin. It acknowledges the reality that the evil we observe in the world is also present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/i-m-a-christian-because-christianity-names-and-addresses-sin-it/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the cleverest and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/changes-in-human-conditions-are-brought-about-by-the-pioneering-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) [Browse all 4,249 Conditions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We've learned a lot from the great psychologists. Wilhelm Reich wrote about the relationship between fascism and sexual repression. Freud rediscovered the underworld of consciousness that European rationalism had denied. 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