Truth or Consequences: A Neopragmatic Critique of Contemporary Mental Health Culture

The mental health counseling profession has increasingly identified with the values of contemporary mental health culture by adopting a descriptive, medicalized perspective. Using a postmodern, neopragmatic analysis, I argue that the consequences of adopting this perspective must be considered. Two such consequences are discussed: (a) the abandonment of an effective, relational orientation toward helping, and (b) the forfeiting of the unique contribution that a traditional counseling perspective can provide to contemporary mental health culture.