Psychoeducation is an established practice for enhancing the effects of psychotherapy. It increases understanding, reduces feelings of insecurity, and improves the chances of forming a strong therapeutic alliance with the therapist. Psychoeducation also takes place outside the clinical context in the form of self, help literature. Eva Illouz has criticized self, help literature and self, help culture, such as the Oprah Winfrey Show, but also the way self, help is integrated into psychotherapy (Illouz, 2008). The narrative that the self is capable of helping itself forms the basis of what Illouz calls a “psychological failure,” as the subject is made entirely responsible for their well, being. Romantic adventures and the authenticity they provide become the most important things in life (Illouz, 2020; Sennett, 2002).
A precursor to CBT is Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, with its extremely individualized message in the self, help book bearing the revealing title How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything, Yes, Anything. In the book, one is encouraged to embrace “radical acceptance” and to view everything negative in one’s life as the result of irrational thinking. CBT in primary care is not nearly as extreme and encourages a more realistic perspective; however, there remains an element of realism that amounts to a high degree of acceptance of the prevailing social order, reinforced by the fact that the therapy does not provide tools for analyzing that order. If this were to be done, there is a risk that one might feel a reduced sense of control, which would run counter to one of the goals of CBT.
McGee has written a critique of self, help literature while also pointing to an opportunity to learn from its cultural successes. The energy and desire to improve oneself exist among people, but they must be channeled and supported in other ways (2005). Paulsen argues that “sociological self, help” could involve paying greater attention to the external (Paulsen, 2020). In her critique of self, help literature, Illouz overlooks the philosophical legacy in which practices and techniques are part of a moral life. Self, help is never merely self, help but is always embedded in the social context. Self, help literature provides cultural tools and moral techniques, but what these are can be questioned, and alternatives can be offered. Socio, education aimed at cultivating a sociological perspective and imagination could be sociologists’ response. McGee argues that the energy found in various forms of self, help could be focused on how to become a good citizen and how to help others and be of value, rather than being focused, as is often the case, either on the private sphere or on a highly career, oriented, instrumentalized, cynical portrayal of professional life and the world, where the focus is on building one’s own human capital (McGee, 2005).
Compared to research on psychoeducation, research on socioeducation is more limited. Zetterberg (1962, in Bruhn & Rebach, 1996) has urged sociologists to produce handbooks and simplified versions of sociology and to popularize sociology, as other fields of research, such as psychology, have done. Socioeducation has often been used in more collective contexts. Socioeducation is found in action groups where participants learn about similar problems they face, which are then linked to social causes (Touraine, 1995). These include self, help groups or action groups modeled after AA meetings and Freire’s work. Socio, education can also be observed when social workers adopt an advocacy perspective, which involves not only informing clients about their rights but also engaging in socio, education directed at the rest of society (Payne, 2015). Community, level social work involving activation, mobilization, capacity building, and the strengthening of social capital includes socio, education. Critical social work is socio, education in the form of fostering “awareness” and “critical analysis,” which are intended to lead to “critical actions” (Payne, 2015, 406). Critical social work places a strong emphasis on socio, education, so strong, in fact, that it has been criticized for placing too much emphasis on in, depth self, reflection and reflections on society that do not, however, support personal change for the client (Payne, 2015, 407). Mullaly is a key researcher in this field, and he argues that the therapist must dispel any myths the client may hold. From a socialist perspective, Mullaly views these myths as obstacles for the person in need of education: scarcity of resources and jobs is accepted as fact; the views of certain groups are considered more true; stereotyping; blaming or holding the individual or victim responsible; competition and ambition are natural phenomena; Western education and knowledge are best; and most people belong to the middle class (Payne, 2015, 428). This can be criticized on the grounds that it is based on socialist principles rather than clearly grounded in sociology.
Sociology is an academic discipline that has lost influence in recent decades (Mouzelis, 1995). It has been said that sociology is in crisis, fragmented, lacks a strong connection between theory and empirical evidence, lacks innovation, and is plagued by tribalism (Alvesson, Gabriel & Paulsen, 2017). Fewer students are studying sociology at the university level at a time when business administration is the most common field of study in higher education (Holmqvist, 2023). Sociologists are rarely part of the public debate. Above all, sociological thinking is not a particularly significant part of modern thought. Instead, economics, psychology, biology, medicine, religion, and New Age thought dominate our self, image and interpretation of the world. It is common to think about the social world we live in, but to think about it sociologically is less common. One reason is that effective socio-education has not become widespread in our culture. This is, in itself, a consequence of the fact that sociotherapy, does not exist as an established field of research. Another major factor in psychology being a larger field than sociology is partly due to the fact that research in psychotherapy has been more practice-oriented.
Several sociologists have written for a general audience and are engaged in what has been called “public sociology.” However, these sociologists do not write strictly within the framework of self, help; rather, their books are intended to build awareness that will help the reader gain insights. The books rarely offer advice on how to act in one’s own life. The only sociologist to have written such a book, one that few have heard of, despite being one of the most influential and significant sociologists of our time, is Randall Collins. The book is titled Why Napoleon Never Slept: How Great Leaders Leverage Emotional Energy and was co, authored with Maren McConell (2015). Even the title has the feel of a typical self, help book; the difference is that it is built on an application of Collins’s own sociological theory of social rituals and emotional energy. The book explores how leaders such as Napoleon, Jesus, Steve Jobs, and Sam Walton (founder of Walmart) all had the ability to build emotional energy through small victories and intense focus. These formed a reinforcing spiral of increased emotional energy, a sense of pride, that they derived from successful social interactions. These interaction rituals are where all people draw energy and rhythm. Some leave these interaction rituals filled with energy, while others leave drained of energy. Those who learn more, gain more knowledge, and acquire more cultural capital will be energized by these ideas, and if they find others who are equally focused on these ideas, the interaction between them will be successful and infuse the encounter with even more energy. Like any self, help book, Collins’s book also offers advice on building emotional energy in one’s life. Here are a few examples (Collins & McConell, 2015):
Gain emotional energy through successful social interactions. Check for “micro, social attunement” in the interaction. Do this by establishing a shared rhythm in the interaction. Feel your own rhythm, look for the other person’s rhythm, and let your rhythms blend until you become like a choir.
Give energy to gain energy, but avoid energy drainers. A person who is seen as charismatic is someone who has a sense of direction and can create a rhythm that others want to be a part of.
Build momentum where there is less resistance, starting with small wins to prepare for tougher challenges. Momentum is emotional energy, that is low, intensity yet vital, giving you the ability to focus for long periods.
Details are just boring when you lack direction. Winners see winning as mundane routine work, but from the outside, it looks like magic. To win, you need to train for a long time, with focus and precision. Self, confidence follows when you know what to do and are confident in it.
Why haven’t sociologists written more books like Randall Collins has? Why is there a near, endless amount of self, help literature based on psychological ideas and only one book based on sociological ideas?
Virtually all sociologists focus on conducting research and producing new findings. Other sociologists reach the public by offering policy recommendations. Still other sociologists, as mentioned at the beginning, write for a general audience, but there is a bias toward sticking to the analysis of society rather than offering advice, and a common genre has become the critique of the massive self, help industry. When Eva Illouz and Frank Furedi analyze self, help literature, their analysis is also one, sidedly critical. These sociologists, who have been closest to self, help literature, have overlooked the fact that advice literature has a long history. Giving advice is part of the culture that has existed in all societies but has often been conveyed through religious texts and practical philosophy. This dates back to ancient philosophy, where the love of wisdom was the driving force, in contrast to today’s philosophy, which is often academically oriented. The Art of Self, Improvement: The Timeless Truths (2021), written by former professor of cultural history Anna Schaffner, highlights the history of self, improvement found in countless cultures throughout the ages. What has happened is that this advice and self, help have become part of a harsh culture of optimization, one that is often highly competitive and individualistic, prioritizing one’s own happiness, prosperity, enlightenment, productivity, and success over those of others. William Davies argues that this leads to “depressive competition syndrome” (2015). This prevailing cultural ideal of “optimization,” with its obsessive focus on a specific, identified “perfection,” comes at a high social and psychological cost (King, Gerish & Rosa, 2019). This optimization can easily take on a somewhat robotic quality (King, Gerish & Rosa, 2019). This pursuit of perfection is more closely linked to what the philosopher Charles Taylor captured in this statement about what happened with secularization:
“Many felt a profound malaise at the idea that the sources of benevolence should be just enlightened self, interest, or simply feelings of sympathy. This seemed to neglect altogether the human power of self, transcendence, the capacity to go beyond self, related desire altogether and follow a higher aspiration.”
Self, help literature often falls precisely into the realm of narrow self, interest or enlightened self, interest.
Socio, education would aim to build a sociological consciousness in which sociological self, help can be a distinct element that sets itself apart from the dominant self, help literature, which is characterized by individualization and an obsession with optimization. Berger writes about what sociological consciousness is:
“We see the puppets dancing on their miniature stage, moving up and down as the strings pull them around, following the prescribed course of their various little parts. We learn to understand the logic of this theater and find ourselves caught up in its motions. We locate ourselves in society and thus recognize our own position as we hang from its subtle strings. For a moment we see ourselves as puppets indeed. But then we grasp a decisive difference between the puppet theater and our own drama. Unlike the puppets, we have the possibility of stopping our movements, looking up, and perceiving the machinery by which we have been moved. In this act lies the first step toward freedom. And in this same act we find the conclusive justification of sociology as a humanistic discipline.”
This approach to self, help allows people to maintain a sense of distance from various cultural ideals and assess whether they are actually worth striving for.
Sociological consciousness has been described in other ways, such as Collins’ “sociological gaze,” which involves looking beyond what is directly observable, beyond what is familiar and taken for granted (Azarain, 2018, 12). Bauman’s concept of “sociological thinking” involves viewing every individual action within a broader social context and systematically contextualizing it. Weitgart (1981) distinguishes between the “sociological attitude”, which is critical, methodical, systematic, and metaphorical, and the “natural attitude,” which is the taken, for, granted attitude that prevents people from navigating life in the best possible way. The term “sociological curiosity” has also been introduced (Jacobs, 2021). Sociological wisdom is based on phronetic sociology (Flyvbjerg, 2001, 2008), where the aim is to utilize sociological insights to build wisdom (phronesis) grounded in sociology. Flyvbjerg has argued that social sciences such as sociology should be more focused on building wisdom (Flyvbjerg, 2001).The role of the social sciences is to strengthen fronesis, not to discover various forms of universal laws or merely to describe and interpret. One outcome of fronetic social science is the effort to develop various heuristics to inform practice. Fronetic social science can reunite positivist and interpretive social science rather than treating them as competing and mutually exclusive ways of conducting research and understanding the world (Flyvbjerg, 2001).