Worked Up Selves

At the beginning of this book I argued that insufficient empirical work had been done within the sociology of therapeutic cultures. This is particularly so I suggested regarding personal development workers. Throughout I maintained this relative lack of empirical work, and this lack of focus on therapeutic workers has had the effect of homogenising the multiplicity of therapeutic cultures, including personal development. I argued that much of the literature in the sociology of therapeutic cultures whilst addressing questions about the proliferation of therapeutic cultures, largely neglects the particular contextual uses of therapeutic approaches, and meanings of therapeutic cultures for different practitioners, including personal development workers. I maintained that this is rather surprising given the concerns about the rise of therapeutic experts in the private and public spheres and their supposed power and influence. It is also problematic because this growing literature is extremely critical of therapeutic cultures, personal development workers and users.